LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Parliament Square: Demonstrations

David Tredinnick: To ask the Leader of the House what the approximate cost to the (a) Greater London Authority, (b) Metropolitan Police and (c) Westminster city council has been of the demonstration and campsite in Parliament square since it was established.

Andrew Lansley: Any costs pertaining to the demonstration and campsite in Parliament square are not the responsibility of the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, but of the authorities listed in my hon. Friend’s question. Pursuant to my hon. Friend’s question following the Business Statement on 14 March 2013, Official Report, column 499, I have asked the Mayor's Office for Policing to respond.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Consultants

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2013, Official Report, column 85W, on consultants, with which consulting companies her Department has contracts; what the nature of each such contract is; and what the amount of spending is for which each is responsible.

Justine Greening: DFID has spent £0.7 million on Admin Consultancy in financial year 2012-13 comprised of 15 contracts ranging from £157 to £350,955 for services including financial, legal and other technical advice. This compares with £19.1 million spent in 2009-10.

Members: Correspondence

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she plans to reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed dated 11 November 2012 and 16 January 2013 regarding the situation in Somalia.

Lynne Featherstone: I am saddened to learn that my right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed has not received a response to his letters, due to an administrative oversight.
	I will send an interim reply to both my right hon. Friend and his constituent, and a substantive reply will issue in a few days.

Public Expenditure

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding her Department allocated to the (a) Conflict Pool, (b) Discretionary Peacekeeping Fund, (c) BBC World Service, excluding the BBC World Service Trust, (d) BBC World Service Trust, (e) Special Reserve, (f) British Council and (g) Security and Intelligence Fund in each year since 2010.

Alan Duncan: At the start of the current spending review period, Treasury allocated budgets for Official Development Assistance (ODA) across all Government Departments.
	The Conflict Pool is a fund jointly controlled by DFID, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Ministry of Defence. It has a separate settlement for the current spending review period. Allocations are as follows:
	2011-12: £256 million (of which £130 million was set aside for ODA-related activities)
	2012-13: £270 million (of which £150 million was set aside for ODA-related activities)
	2013-14: £290 million (of which £175 million was set aside for ODA-related activities)
	2014-15: £309 million (of which £200 million was set aside for ODA-related activities).
	As part of the Conflict Pool settlement, an additional £374 million per annum was provided for the peacekeeping budget.
	The remaining areas listed above fall under the responsibility of the FCO. The FCO's departmental business plan sets out details of planned spend, broken down across the British Council, BBC World Service, FCO contributions to International Organisations and FCO programmes and network.
	The publication “Statistics on International Development (SID) 2012” provides information on how official UK financial resources for international development are spent:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/How-we-measure-progress/Aid-Statistics/Statistics-on-International-Development-2012/SID-2012-Key-Statistics/

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Air Passenger Duty

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effect of air passenger duty on in-bound tourism to the regions of the UK.

Hugh Robertson: DCMS has not made an assessment of the effect of air passenger duty on in-bound tourism to the regions of the UK.
	As part of the HM Revenue and Customs' report (October 2012), the impact of differing air passenger duty levels, and the effect it could have on demand, were looked at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/report188.pdf

Broadband

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans her Department has for the allocation of broadband spending in the period 2015 to 2017.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The Department currently has no plans for allocating funding for new broadband programmes in the period 2015 to 2017.

Design

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on design of (a) logos, (b) buildings, (c) advertising, (d) stationery and (e) campaigns in 2011-12.

Hugh Robertson: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not collate this information centrally, and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Graduates: Equal Pay

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to ensure greater pay equality between male and female graduates; and if she will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The gender pay gap is steadily decreasing but there is more to do. Leading businesses know that attracting and retaining the best talent—both male and female—is vital to success. That is why we believe that a voluntary approach, working with business, is the best way to drive culture change. Our voluntary approach to increasing the number of women on boards has seen the biggest ever jump in the past year. Women now account for over 17% of FTSE 100 boards up from 12.5% in February 2011.
	In 2011, the Government launched Think, Act, Report, a voluntary initiative to promote gender equality in the workplace. Nearly 80 leading businesses have now signed up, committing to greater action and transparency on gender issues, and covering over 1.3 million employees in the UK.
	The new National Careers Service will encourage girls and young women to challenge stereotypes and encourage them to choose from the broadest possible career options. That includes giving all students good information about the wide range of career opportunities to which studying science and maths can lead.
	Domestic legislation already in place to tackle discrimination against women is among the strongest in Europe, and includes provisions ensuring that women are not paid less than men for equivalent work for the same employer. The Equality Act 2010, which this Government commenced, also contains provisions to make pay secrecy clauses unlawful, extend positive action in recruitment and promotion and protect against discrimination “by association”.
	Legislation currently before Parliament will require employment tribunals to order an employer to carry out an equal pay audit when they have been found to have breached equal pay laws. This will ensure that those employers look at their pay structures in detail so they do not fall foul of the law in the future.
	More generally, we are extending the right to request flexible working to all employees from 2014 to benefit those who need to juggle their personal and working life. We are also introducing a new system of shared parental leave.

Olympic Games 2012

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what companies in the entertainment technology industry can do to publicise their involvement in the London 2012 Olympic Games; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: I would encourage companies from the entertainment technology industry, which were involved in supplying the London 2012 Games, to apply for a licence under the Supplier Recognition Scheme, run by the British Olympic Association. A number of companies from within this sector have already been successful in securing a licence. Licensed suppliers can refer to their work on the 2012 Games, in business to business communications, and at trade fairs, both in the UK and overseas. The Supplier Recognition Scheme is another first for London 2012: the first time that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has agreed to the legal restrictions placed on suppliers and contractors being relaxed in this way.

Olympic Games 2012

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the exclusion to the Supplier Recognition Scheme for audio, video and audio-visual equipment, recording devices, navigation equipment and cameras includes those suppliers who provided (a) services, (b) equipment and (c) services and equipment; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: This category excludes companies which supplied audio, video or audio-visual equipment to the London 2012 Games only. Companies which provided audio-visual services, either as part of or all of their supply, may be eligible and are encouraged to apply online.
	The excluded categories exist to protect the rights of worldwide Olympic sponsors. These rights last beyond 2012 and give exclusive rights of association to the Games in the UK and worldwide. It is the support of these sponsors which ensures the Games can take place—without them there would be no Games and no opportunity for businesses to associate with them.

Olympic Games 2012

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects the eligibility criteria for the Supplier Recognition Scheme to be fully defined; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The eligibility criteria were fully set out at the launch of the scheme in January this year. Full details of these criteria can be viewed on the website at
	www.srs2012.com

Olympic Games 2012

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what detailed advice her Department plans to provide to companies who supplied audio and audio visual equipment and services to the London 2012 Olympic Games on their eligibility for inclusion in the Supplier Recognition Scheme.

Edward Vaizey: This guidance is already available for suppliers to view in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the scheme website at
	www.srs2012.com
	Suppliers are also encouraged to contact the scheme direct to find out more. Contact details can be found on the website.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what allowances and subsidies in addition to salary were available to officials in (a) her Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value was of such payments and allowances in each such year.

Hugh Robertson: DCMS introduced a specialist allowance in 2004, to assist in the recruitment and retention of staff, in certain specialist posts. It also pays an allowance to employees working in designated posts in the Private Offices, which was introduced in 2009, as an alternative to payment of overtime.
	The monetary values of such allowances are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  £ (per annum) 
			 Specialist Allowance 4,000 
			   
			 Private Office Allowance:  
			 SCSI—Principle Private Secretary 8,500 
			 Grade A—Private Secretary 8,500 
			 Grade B—Private Secretary 6,500 
			 Grade C—Assistant Private Secretary 5,000 
			 Grade C—Diary Secretary 4,500 
			 Grade D—Diary Secretary 3,500 
		
	
	DCMS does not pay any other subsidies and does not hold central records for its public bodies.

Recruitment

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many officials were recruited to (a) her Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years.

Hugh Robertson: The number of officials who were recruited by DCMS in each of the last five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of new starters in the Department 
			 2008 13 
			 2009 28 
			 2010 43 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 25 
			 2012 26 
		
	
	These numbers include Fast Streamers and employees who have transferred in from other Government Departments either permanently or on loan.
	DCMS does not hold central records for its non-departmental public bodies.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 718W, on the Third Sector, if she will publish a list of the strategic relationships with the Third Sector.

Hugh Robertson: The Department does not hold this information centrally and to collate this information would incur disproportionate cost.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Homelessness

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) total and (b) percentage change was in the number of homeless people in English local authorities between 2009-10 and 2011-12; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for such changes.

Mark Prisk: Figures on the number of households accepted as homeless by English local authorities are published on my Department's website (Live Tables 770). To assist the hon. Member, this following table provides comparative figures:
	
		
			  Number 
			 1998-99 104,270 
			 1999-2000 105,590 
			 2000-01 114,670 
			 2001-02 116,660 
			 2002-03 128,540 
			 2003-04 135,420 
			 2004-05 120,860 
			 2005-06 93,980 
			 2006-07 73,360 
			 2007-08 63,170 
			 2008-09 53,430 
			 2009-10 40,020 
			 2010-11 44,160 
			 2011-12 50,290 
		
	
	These figures show that homelessness rates are far below the average rates of the last Labour Government.
	We are investing £470 million in homelessness prevention over four years (2011-12 to 2014-15) to help local authorities and voluntary sector partners prevent and tackle homelessness, rough sleeping and repossessions.
	We have also increased the Discretionary Housing Payments pot to around £400 million over the spending review period to help families and those in vulnerable situations.

Sportsgrounds: Emergencies

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people his Department's computer model for the emergency evacuation of sports stadia anticipates can be evacuated from a stadium within five minutes.

Hugh Robertson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
	The Department does not have a computer model for the emergency evacuation of sports grounds. Responsibility for the safety of spectators, including the evacuation of spectators in an emergency, is a matter for ground management. The ‘Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds’, written by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, includes guidance on the design and management of emergency evacuation routes and how to calculate the capacity of the emergency exit system. The guide can be found at the following link:
	http://www.safetyatsportsgrounds.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/green-guide.pdf

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what steps the Government has taken in response to the Resolution of the House of 1 November 2012 calling for a comprehensive review of air passenger duty;
	(2)  how much revenue has been raised through air passenger duty in each year since its introduction;
	(3)  what proportion of revenue raised through air passenger duty in each year since its introduction has been raised on routes to and from Northern Ireland.

Sajid Javid: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect information on the contribution to air passenger duty (APD) revenues made from flights to or from specific airports. The published statistics on APD, including historic information on revenues from the duty, are available at:
	https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx
	The Government have no plans to undertake a comprehensive review of APD at this point. The Government have limited the rise in APD to inflation over the period 2010-11 to 2012-13. Budget 2012 set out rates from April 2013, which will also only rise in line with inflation, ensuring that level of APD will again remain constant in real terms. The Chancellor keeps all taxes under review and considers them in the round.

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of excise duty revenue likely to be foregone over a parliament were a minimum unit price for alcohol introduced.

Sajid Javid: The Government's consultation on the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol of 45p has recently closed. The consultation stage impact assessment sets out the impacts of a 45p minimum unit price—this is available on the Home Office website.
	The estimate of the impact on Exchequer revenue will be developed further based on the consultation feedback.

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate what the (a) total and (b) average annual saving arising from the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 will be.

Chloe Smith: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	Estimated savings are set out in the impact assessments which can be found at:
	http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/electoralregistrationandadministration/documents.html

Equitable Life Assurance Society

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will monitor the annuity rates for Equitable Life With Profits policyholders who took out their policies prior to September 1992.

Sajid Javid: The Treasury has no plans to monitor the annuity rates of Equitable Life With Profits policyholders who purchased their policies prior to September 1992.

Telephone Services

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department's customer service telephone lines are restricted to those beginning 0870.

Sajid Javid: HM Treasury does not have any 0800, 0808, 0844, 0845 or 0870 customer service telephone lines. The Debt Management Office (DMO), an Executive agency of HM Treasury, has 10 0845 contact numbers provided for the public on its website.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Customs: Animals

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many live animals have been confiscated at UK borders in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: The most recent published data on seizures by Border Force, which was made available to the Environmental Audit Committee on Wildlife Crime, is as follows:
	
		
			 Seizures of live animals and birds 
			  Number of seizures Number of items seized 
			 2007-08 25 442 
			 2008-09 37 1,212 
		
	
	
		
			 2009-10 21 563 
			 2010-11 8 1,620 
		
	
	The figures and the transcript of the Committee hearing can be found at:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmenvaud/140/140.pdf

Customs: Drugs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much heroin has been confiscated at UK borders in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: There are published figures for heroin seizures at the UK border but for ease of reference the figures requested are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Quantity (tonnes)(1) 
			 2008-09 1.0 
			 2009-10 (2)0.8 
			 2010-11 (2)0.4 
			 2011-12 1.6 
			 2012-13(3) 0.2 
			 (1) Conversion factors have been applied to convert tablets and litres to tonnes. (2) Published figures cover England and Wales only. (3) Covers Q1 of 2012-13 (1 April 2012 to 30 June 2012) only. Note: Figures have been rounded to one decimal place. 
		
	
	These figures for heroin seizures at the UK border are published as part of the Border Force publication for drugs seizures within the UK and the Home Office Statistical Bulletin ‘Seizures of Drugs in England and Wales’.
	Border Force figures:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/drug-seizures/
	Home Office statistics:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb1212/hosb1212?view=Binary

SCOTLAND

Sovereignty

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the Scottish Government on (a) passports and (b) dual citizenship with the UK in the event of Scottish independence.

David Mundell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 March 2013, Official Report, column 406W.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills where each of the 79 apprentices employed by his Department is based.

Jo Swinson: Of the 79 apprentices referenced in the question, 37 are employed by core BIS and they are based as follows: London 25, Sheffield nine, Cambridge one, Cardiff one and Glasgow one. The remaining 42 apprentices are employed by our agencies and we do not collate data centrally.

Clothing: Fire Prevention

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2013, Official Report, column 745W, on clothing: fire prevention, what assessment he has made of the risk of materials presenting a health hazard if regulations on fire-retardant clothing were to include all children's clothing;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost of cotton garments if regulations on fire-retardant clothing were to include all children's clothing.

Jo Swinson: The UK already has the most stringent flammability regime for children's clothing in Europe and as such, no assessment has been made of the possible health risks or estimated cost of extending the regime to all children's clothing.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what response he made to the Regulatory Policy Committee in respect of its representations on the impact assessment of the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and similar issues;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the Regulatory Policy Committee's criticism of his Department for not addressing its comments on the impact assessment of the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Jo Swinson: In response to the Regulatory Policy Committee's opinion on the Government's economic impact assessment, the Government committed to consulting on transitional provisions that would seek evidence on how and when to implement the change if the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 was approved by Parliament.
	The Government also committed to producing a new impact assessment in relation to those transitional provisions.

Credit: Interest Rates

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of a cap on (a) the number of loans and (b) the value of a loan which can be taken out from payday loan companies.

Jo Swinson: Both the Bristol report and the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) compliance review provide us with evidence on (a) the number of payday loans and (b) the value of payday loans.
	On (a), the OFT found that, of the 21 lenders accounting for 85% of the market by turnover, an average of 58% of customers took out more than one new payday loan in 2011-12 and 15% of customers took out more than five loans. The Bristol Report found that, of the 788 payday customers surveyed, they had taken out an average of three online payday loans and 5.1 retail payday loans in the last 12 months. On (b), the OFT found that the average payday loan issued in 2011-12 by the 21 lenders surveyed was for an amount between £265 and £270 over 30 days. The Bristol report's business survey found that the average retail payday loan was typically between £300 and £400 over a loan period of 28 to 31 days while the average online payday loan ranged from £140 to £320 over a loan term of either 30 days or 15 to 20 days.
	Having reviewed these data, Government are concerned about the cost of borrowing associated with such loans. We are also concerned about the levels of repeat borrowing, which suggest consumers are using a short-term credit product for longer term borrowing and therefore potentially exposed to high levels of debt without the means to repay.
	Government have recently set out how we intend to work with the current and future consumer credit regulators to ensure a strong and co-ordinated response to the problems identified, now, as well as from April 2014. This involves tough enforcement action by OFT, as well as immediate work by Government to clamp down on the advertising of payday loans. Government are also strongly pressing industry to improve compliance with the sector's existing voluntary codes and put in place new provisions to address specific areas of concern, notably use of continuous payment authority. Further, the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will have tough, responsive and dynamic powers to tackle emerging problems in credit markets quickly and effectively from April 2014. The FCA has committed to prioritise action on payday lending as soon as they take on the regulatory responsibility in April 2014. During the rest of this year, they will consider whether there are gaps in the regulation of payday lending that need to be addressed from April 2014 and will turn existing OFT guidance into rules that are binding on firms.

Enterprise Zones

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what research his Department has commissioned or undertaken on the effectiveness of enterprise zones in promoting economic growth.

Mark Prisk: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	When developing the current Enterprise Zone programme, the Department considered the Government evaluation on the economic impacts of Enterprise Zones in the 1980s and 1990s: PA Cambridge Economic Consultants, 1995, Final Evaluation of Enterprise Zones, for the Department for Environment. The Department also considered reviews of the wider research evidence that were produced by Centre for Cities, 2010, ‘What Would Maggie Do?'; and The Work Foundation, 2010, ‘Do Enterprise Zones Work?’ This research is publicly available.
	We are currently working closely with Local Enterprise Partnerships in delivering Enterprise Zones. This includes assisting in monitoring the outputs and economic outcomes of Enterprise Zones which will assist the Department in understanding their effectiveness for economic growth.

Higher Education: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people from Barnsley Central constituency went on to university in academic year (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK higher education institutions (HEIs). The numbers of entrants to UK HEIs who were domiciled in Barnsley Central constituency prior to their course by level of study has been provided in the table for the academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12.
	Information for the 2012-13 academic year will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2014.
	
		
			 Entrants(1) domiciled in Barnsley Central constituency(2) prior to their course, UK higher education institutions, academic years 2010/11 and 2011/12 
			 Level of study 2010/11 2011/12 
			 Postgraduate 185 155 
			 Undergraduate 775 770 
			 Total 965 925 
			 (1) Covers all students in their first year of study. (2) Parliamentary constituency is derived from the student's postcode. The boundaries were revised in the 2010 general election. Notes: Figures are based on an HESA standard registration population and have been rounded to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record.

TRANSPORT

A23

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what reports he has received from the Highways Agency on events on Handcross Hill in Sussex on 11 March 2013;
	(2)  what reports he has received on the gritting of the A23 at Handcross Hill in Mid Sussex and south to Brighton on 10 March, 11 March and 12 March 2013.

Stephen Hammond: Following the severe weather that brought particularly difficult driving conditions across Kent and Sussex including the A23 at Handcross Hill and Highways Agency routes south to Brighton, I was briefed initially at 06.00 on 12 March. I asked for a more extensive and detailed update which was received at 16.00 on the same day from the Deputy Chief Executive of the Highways Agency.
	These reports included a summary of the Highways Agency's preparations for snow and ice both before and after the severe weather warnings had been issued and their operation to respond to a high number incidents across the region. Although routes had been treated, many of the incidents involved heavy goods vehicles unable to negotiate uphill gradients. This caused closures at several locations—which caused delay for many other vehicles.

Bus Services: Concessions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England who qualify for a disabled person's bus pass that are in receipt of such a pass.

Norman Baker: We estimate that in 2011-12, the latest year for which data is available, there were 748,000 disabled bus passes in circulation in England, of which 33,000 were issued by South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. We do not have an estimate for Barnsley Central. The relevant published tables are BUS0820 and BUS0890 which can be found at-
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus08-concessionary-travel
	In some Travel Concession Authorities (TCAs), a number of eligible, older disabled people will hold an older person's bus pass instead - in particular, if no discretionary concessions are available in a TCA or if they offer the same to both older and disabled people. For example, if pre-9.30 am travel is offered to both older and disabled people then an older disabled person may choose to apply for an older person's pass as eligibility is easier to prove. They will therefore not be included in the figures quoted for disabled passes.
	We do not know the number of people who qualify for a disabled bus pass but do not apply for one.

Bus Services: Visual Impairment

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department holds on the proportion of bus routes in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England which have audio facilities announcing the destination of the bus and the next stop for the purpose of aiding those who are blind or partially sighted with their journey.

Norman Baker: We estimate that in 2012 there were 8877 buses operating in England that offer audio announcements on the destination of the bus and the next stop. This amounts to approximately 25% of all buses in England.
	We do not hold specific figures for South Yorkshire or Barnsley Central. However, Stagecoach have confirmed that they currently operate 7 buses with next stop visual displays on two routes (93 & 95) in Barnsley and that three of these buses also provide audio announcements.
	The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) is currently undertaking a pilot scheme involving the use of 4 buses with audio announcement facilities in and around Barnsley. The SYPTE will seek to extend the provision of audio visual announcement systems on buses around the region as part of its successful 'Better Bus Area' proposal.

Railways: Bus Services

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the inclusion of rail replacement buses within the National Rail Conditions of Carriage; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: No such representations have been received.
	The National Rail Conditions of Carriage already apply to passengers travelling and luggage, articles, animals and cycles conveyed in these buses unless it is made clear to passengers buying a ticket that different conditions apply. Train Companies may refuse to accept some types of luggage, articles, animals and cycles. Ticket sellers must make clear to passengers if any planned replacements of which they are aware are likely to affect their journey when they buy a ticket.
	If the replacement is at short notice and a passenger cannot complete their journey because the Train Company is unable to transport their luggage, articles, animals and/or cycles, they will be entitled to compensation as if their train had been cancelled.
	I am encouraging Network Rail and Train Operating Companies to minimise the number of times when trains are replaced by buses.

Shipping: Accidents

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many maritime accidents have involved a pilot vessel in each of the last 10 years.

Stephen Hammond: The number of accidents in each of the last 10 years that have involved a pilot boat and have been reported to MAIB are:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2003 8 
			 2004 5 
			 2005 8 
			 2006 6 
			 2007 9 
			 2008 5 
			 2009 7 
			 2010 6 
			 2011 5 
			 2012 7

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 14 March 2013, Official Report, column 286, on telephone services, whether an alternative UK landline number beginning with 01, 02 or 03 is publicly available as an alternative to the 0800 numbers and 0870 number in use by his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible.

Norman Baker: Yes.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 November 2012, Official Report, column 370W, on Afghanistan, how many missiles have been fired by Royal Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles in Afghanistan since 22 October 2012.

Andrew Robathan: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for State for Defence, Lord Astor of Hever, to the noble Lady, Baroness Stern of Vauxhall, in the other place on 12 March 2013 (Official Report, House of Lords, column WA46).

Armed Forces: Housing Benefit

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  pursuant to the statement of 25 February 2013, Official Report, column 18, how many service personnel and military families will be affected by changes to housing benefit relating to under-occupancy;
	(2)  pursuant to the statement of 25 February 2013, Official Report, column 8, if he will publish the minutes of the meeting between the Minister for Veterans' Personnel and Welfare and Lord Freud to discuss service personnel and the housing benefit under-occupancy penalty.

Mark Francois: holding answer 7 March 2013
	My recent meeting with my noble Friend Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform, led to a greater shared understanding of how changes to benefit policies impact on members of the armed forces. However, I do not intend to publish a record of this meeting. Defence Ministers have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
	As I have previously stated, the decision to claim benefits is a private matter about which the Ministry of Defence has no requirement to collect information. It is not possible, therefore, to provide a numerical answer.
	However, I am aware that there are concerns by some parents of service personnel that they may be affected and I am glad to be able to say that, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), announced on 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 9-10WS, adult children who are in the armed forces but who continue to live with parents will be treated as continuing to live at home, even when deployed on operations.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether, after planned redundancies have taken effect, the armed forces will have a lower ratio of officers to non-commissioned ranks than in 2010.

Mark Francois: holding answer 12 March 2013
	The ratio is expected to be broadly unchanged from 2010.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many days of flight testing have occurred and how many days of flight testing have been lost due to grounding of the aircraft since delivery of the first Joint Strike Fighter.

Philip Dunne: From the start of Flight Test on 11 June 2008 to 27 February 2013, there have been a total of 6,382 Development Flight Test days of F-35B Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft. Over this period, the equivalent of 285 days of Development Flight Test on F-35B aircraft did not take place while aircraft were grounded, or 4.5% of the maximum available flight days.

Military Bases

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether (a) he, (b) Ministers or (c) officials of his Department have (i) received written communication from or (ii) met representatives of (A) Thales Training and Simulation Ltd, (B) Infrastructure Investment Ltd or (C) Robertson Group in relation to his Department's Basing Review.

Andrew Robathan: It will take a little time to co-ordinate details of any possible written communications from Thales Training and Simulation Ltd, Infrastructure Investment Ltd or Robertson Group in relation to the Basing Review. I will write to the right hon. and learned Member when the information is available.
	Substantive answer from Andrew Robathan to Sir Menzies Campbell:
	In my answer to your Parliamentary Question (134191) of 18 December 2012 (Official Report, column 711W) I undertook to write to you with further details of any meetings or written communications between the Secretary of State for Defence, MOD Ministers and MOD officials with Thales Training and Simulation Ltd, Infrastructure Investment Ltd and Robertson Group in relation to the Basing Review.
	MOD officials did hold a meeting attended by a number of contractors, including representatives of Thales, with regard to one specific move under consideration as part of the basing review, on 22 November 2012.
	There have been no meetings at any level or correspondence with either Infrastructure Investment Ltd or Robertson Group in relation to basing.

Sudan

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps he has taken to monitor and evaluate the effect and outcomes of his Department's Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context training on the conduct of the armed forces of Sudan;
	(2)  how much his Department has spent on providing training in military institutions in Sudan; and what further such spending is planned;
	(3)  what additional military co-operation is planned between the British armed forces and those of Sudan; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of any such co-operation.

Mark Francois: Ministry of Defence engagement with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is funded by the tri-departmental Conflict Pool and is in line with the objectives of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy and the International Defence Engagement Strategy. This year the MOD has spent approximately £750,000 on defence education for the SAF, of which £450,000 was spent on provision of education within Sudanese military institutions. The education provided in Khartoum included English Language teaching and the delivery of the Management of Defence in the Wider Security Context (MDWSC) course. The Defence education programme for the next financial year has yet to be finalised. We currently expect it to be largely similar in nature and cost.
	Our Defence engagement in Sudan contributes to wider cross-government and international efforts to promote stability, accountability and good governance across Sudan. The intent is to encourage security sector reform, with an emphasis on respect for human rights, professionalism, and governance and accountability mechanisms within the armed forces. This engagement has also allowed the UK to play a key role in supporting African Union-led negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan, influencing senior Sudanese military officials to make progress on security-related post-secession issues, thereby contributing to regional stability.
	The MDWSC has formed part of our Defence education programme since 2010 with three courses delivered at the Higher Military Academy in Khartoum. It is intended to increase awareness of the range of processes and techniques that may be utilised to enhance the effective governance and management of defence. The UK Defence Academy has undertaken an internal validation of each MDWSC course to determine whether it met its immediate objectives and to ensure that subsequent courses are tailored to meet identified areas of need. MOD Defence education in Sudan is also subject to scrutiny annually as part of the Conflict Pool funding process. The Deputy Director of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sudan presented on the course held in January 2013. ICRC participation helps ensure that UK-delivered education is coherent with and supports wider international efforts to encourage respect for International Humanitarian Law.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Employment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) pensioners worked beyond the retirement age and (b) young people were unemployed in (i) each constituency and (ii) each region of the UK in each year for which data is available.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) pensioners worked beyond the retirement age and (b) young people were unemployed in (i) each constituency and (ii) each region of the UK in each year for which data is available (148644); and how many (a) pensioners were working beyond the retirement age and (b) young people were unemployed in each (i) constituency, (ii) region and (iii) constituent part of the UK in each of the last 30 years (149075).
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessors, following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
	Estimates of the number of people in employment beyond state pension age are not available for parliamentary constituencies or regions. Table 1 shows the number of people above state pension age in the UK who were in employment according to survey responses from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) in the final quarter of each year from 1992 to 2012. Estimates for periods prior to this are not available. The state pension age is the age at which people become eligible to claim the state pension in the UK. For women the state pension age is currently being increased incrementally to 65 in order to be equalised with that for men in 2018. On the LFS the identification of respondents' eligibility for the state pension is based on their age at the time of interview. During the survey period for October to December 2012 the state pension age for women varied between 61 and 3 months and 61 and 4 months.
	Estimates are also not available for the number of young people who were unemployed for parliamentary constituencies. As an alternative, table 2 shows the number of people aged 18 to 24 who were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and its predecessor unemployment related benefits in January 2013, the latest available period, and December of each year from 1985 to 2012. Data prior to 1985 is not available. Data for the current parliamentary constituencies, used in the 2010 general election, are not available prior to 2004. The counts of people claiming JSA are those who are claiming benefits for unemployment related purposes. At a UK level the total number of JSA claimants is around two thirds of the total unemployment level. As this data is quite extensive a copy has been placed in the House of Commons library.
	Whilst estimates of the number of young people who were unemployed are not available for parliamentary constituencies, they are available for regions and countries. Table 3 shows an estimate for the number of people aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed according to survey responses to the APS in the 12 month period ending October 2012, the latest available period, and for the 12 month periods ending in December for 2004 to 2011. Estimates are also shown for 12 month periods ending in February for 1995 to 2004 from the Annual LFS. Estimates are not available for periods prior to this. Due to the size of the tables, they will be stored in the library of the House.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS, APS and its predecessors are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in the tables based on survey results.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Housing Benefit

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people under the age of 25 are currently in receipt of housing benefit by the smallest reporting unit and by gender with costs for each category.

Steve Webb: I have arranged for tables of housing benefit recipients aged under 25 broken down by gender and by local authority to be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Pensioners: Poverty

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of pensioners have been living in poverty in the last 10 years for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many people in Warrington North constituency are living in poverty; and how many of those people are (a) in work, (b) people of working age who are not in work and in receipt of benefits and (c) pensioners.

Steve Webb: The answer to the first question is published in Tables 6.1tr and 6.3tr of the Households Below Average Income report, available here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2011/index.php?page=contents
	It is not possible to answer the second question because estimates of poverty are not available at a constituency level due to insufficient sample size.

Remploy

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will instruct the Chief Executive and Board of Remploy in furtherance of valid bids to permit bid officers immediate access to the Data Room;
	(2)  if he will instruct the Chief Executive and Board of Remploy in furtherance of valid bids to permit immediate direct contact between bid officers and authorised workforce representatives and interested staff of Remploy Dundee; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: As the hon. Gentleman knows, the commercial process is owned by Remploy and not the Department. It is their process to manage and deliver. Remploy has confirmed that only following submission of an Expression of Interest and once a bidder has signed a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and Conflict of Interest form (if necessary) will parties be given access to the Data Room.
	Site visits will be considered for those bidders who have signed and returned the appropriate NDA and Conflict of Interest documentation. However, this will not give access to any additional commercial information. Remploy and the DWP are clear that any visits be conducted in a way that maintains fairness of the commercial process and does not adversely impact on employees.

Remploy

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Remploy workers have been made redundant to date; and how many of them have found work.

Esther McVey: Since the announcement by the Department and Remploy in March 2012 about implementing the Sayce Review recommendations, 1,450 employees have been made redundant and 90 have transferred to a new employer.
	Not all ex-Remploy employees have elected to take up the People Help and Support Package, which we have put in place to help them find employment, for example because they have decided to retire. However, I can confirm 1,062 are engaging with a personal case worker, 307 jobs have been found for disabled former Remploy workers, and 256 are now in work.

State Retirement Pensions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration he has given to introducing a taper into proposals for state pension reform to ensure that individuals reaching pensionable age in the period immediately prior to a shift towards a single tier also benefit from the arrangements.

Steve Webb: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for High Peak (Andrew Bingham) on 29 January 2013, Official Report, column 784W.

Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his Department's impact assessment on the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill, 
	(1)  how many children he estimates live in the affected households; and what proportion of all children in the UK he estimates to live in these households;
	(2)  how many adults he estimates to be in the affected households; and what proportion of all adults in the UK he estimates to be in those households.

Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions impact assessment on the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill estimates that 11 million children are in families that were affected by the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill; this represents 85% of all children. Of this population 38% were in families only affected by changes in child benefit.
	It also estimates that 14.8 million adults are in families that were affected by the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill; this represents 31% of all adults. Of this population 35% were in families only affected by changes in child benefit.

Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his Department's impact assessment on the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill, how many disabled children in receipt of disability living allowance (DLA) he estimates to be in the affected households; and what proportion of all disabled children in receipt of DLA in the UK he estimates to be affected by the Bill.

Steve Webb: The data requested is not available since the analysis does not allow us to accurately identify families where the child is the recipient of DLA.

Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the provisions of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill on the number of employment and support allowance claimants in (a) the support group and (b) the work-related activity group living in relative poverty;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the provisions of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill on the number of employment and support allowance claimants living in relative poverty.

Steve Webb: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to my answer to his earlier question on 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 508W (PQ 141901) for an estimate of the impact of the Up-rating Bill on disabled individuals in poverty.
	It is not possible to disaggregate this population into recipients of employment and support allowance (ESA) and its individual components due to insufficient sample size. It should be noted that the population referred to in the above PQ identify self-reported disability as defined by the 2010 Equality Act, and the ESA recipient population constitutes a smaller and different group of individuals than this wider population.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Wages Board

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department holds on which respondents to his consultation on the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board have been (a) investigated, (b) sanctioned or (c) prosecuted in relation to agricultural workers by the (i) Health and Safety Executive or (ii) Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

David Heath: DEFRA has not made an analysis of whether respondents to the consultation on the future of the Agricultural Wages Board have been investigated, sanctioned or prosecuted in relation to agricultural workers by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). Details of those who responded to the consultation exercise are published on the DEFRA website. The GLA also publishes details on its website of labour providers whose GLA licences have been revoked.
	DEFRA does not hold information about agricultural workers investigated, sanctioned or prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what evidence his Department has used to estimate badger population numbers in the two pilot cull areas;
	(2)  what margins of error apply to his Department's estimates of badger populations in the two pilot cull areas;
	(3)  what contingency plans are in place if the estimates of badger population numbers in the two pilot cull areas are found to be significantly (a) higher or (b) lower than his Department's estimates.

David Heath: Surveys for active badger setts were undertaken in the two pilot cull areas in order to estimate the total number of active setts within each area. These were supported by hair trapping surveys conducted to estimate the average number of badgers per active sett.
	The badger populations in the two pilot cull areas are estimated to be 2,657 to 4,079 in West Gloucestershire and 1,972 to 2,973 in West Somerset, with 80% confidence in both minimum and maximum limits. The methodology for estimating the badger numbers in the two pilot areas makes use of the best available data and provides a reliable estimate of the populations.
	Independent monitoring of cull effectiveness will take place in the first year of the pilots. If this monitoring indicates that the population in an area is higher than originally estimated, then discussions will take place between the licence holder, Natural England and DEFRA to agree an appropriate remedy. If the badger population is lower than expected, badger removal effort for the second year of culling may be adjusted accordingly. However, in this scenario, there are additional safeguards in place to ensure that the risk of local disappearance of the population is low.

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which company holds the largest contract to provide mobile telephony services to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; how much is paid each year under that contract; how many individual devices are covered by the contract; when the contract was awarded; and when and how the contract will next be reviewed.

Richard Benyon: Vodafone holds the largest contract to provide mobile telephony services to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS). It started on 7 March 2011 and covers 238 devices.
	CEFAS has spent the following since the contact began:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2011-12 43,923 
			 2012-13 (1)31,942 
			 (1) Latest data—up to and including 31 December 2012. 
		
	
	The current contract was put in place through the Government Procurement Service framework arrangement and expires on 30 March 2015. We would expect the same approach to be taken to procuring a replacement contract at that time.

Crayfish: South East

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many crayfish licences have been granted by the Environment Agency in (a) Berkshire, (b) Oxfordshire and (c) Havering borough in each of the last five years.

Richard Benyon: The information is as follows:
	Table 1 presents the figures for the number of crayfish licences granted in the area in which Berkshire and Oxfordshire sit. The areas are defined by catchment and not county boundaries. The authorisations issued are for non-native species of crayfish and are for the purposes of Scientific Survey, Personal Consumption, Commercial and Fishery Management.
	
		
			 Table 1 
			  Number of licences granted 
			 2008 271 
			 2009 290 
			 2010 298 
			 2011 308 
			 2012 382 
		
	
	Table 2 presents the figures for the number of crayfish licences granted in the area in which Havering borough sits. These authorisations issued are also for non-native species of crayfish and are for the purposes of Scientific Survey, Personal Consumption, Commercial and Fishery Management.
	
		
			 Table 2 
			  Number of licences granted 
			 2008 48 
			 2009 62 
			 2010 79 
			 2011 113 
			 2012 163

Crayfish: South East

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many crayfish licences have been granted by the Environment Agency on the (a) Kennet and Avon Canal, (b) River Thames and (c) River Kennet in each of the last five years.

Richard Benyon: The following tables present the figures for crayfish licences granted in (a) the Kennet and Avon Canal, (b) River Thames and (c) River Kennet. The authorisations issued are for non-native species of crayfish and are for the purposes of personal consumption, commercial, fishery management and scientific survey.
	
		
			 (a) Kennet and Avon Canal 
			  Number of licences granted 
			 2008 10 
			 2009 6 
			 2010 17 
			 2011 16 
			 2012 21 
		
	
	
		
			 (b) River Thames 
			  Number of licences granted 
			 2008 107 
			 2009 128 
			 2010 118 
			 2011 105 
			 2012 98 
		
	
	
		
			 (c) River Kennet 
			  Number of licences granted 
			 2008 27 
			 2009 27 
			 2010 18 
			 2011 20 
			 2012 24

Dogs: Imports

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many dogs were imported into the UK via (a) ports and (b) airports in the last 12 months; from which country each dog was imported from; and what breed was each imported dog.

David Heath: The number of dogs imported into Great Britain in 2012 (the last complete year for which there is data) via sea ports was 63,706 and via airports was 4,632. We do not hold any information on the breeds of the dogs imported.
	Over the last 12 months, dogs were presented for entry into Great Britain—by sea, rail and air—with documentation (a pet passport or third country veterinary certificate) that had been issued in the following countries:
	
		
			 Country in which paperwork was issued Number of dogs imported (1 March 2012 to 28 February 2013) 
			 Afghanistan 4 
			 Andorra 11 
			 Antigua and Barbuda 3 
			 Argentina 20 
			 Australia 267 
			 Austria 284 
			 Bahrain 12 
			 Barbados 12 
			 Belgium 2,700 
			 Bermuda 13 
			 Bulgaria 483 
			 Canada 223 
			 Cayman Islands 9 
			 Chile 7 
			 China 2 
			 Costa Rica 1 
			 Croatia 50 
			 Cyprus 701 
			 Cuba 1 
			 Czech Republic 529 
			 Denmark 476 
			 Estonia 52 
			 Finland 161 
			 France 12,915 
			 Germany 7,299 
			 Gibraltar 93 
			 Ghana 1 
			 Great Britain 84,941 
			 Greece 947 
			 Hawaii 1 
			 Hong Kong 53 
			 Hungary 2,547 
			 Iceland 4 
			 Indonesia 1 
			 Republic of Ireland 700 
			 Israel 1 
			 Italy 1,928 
			 Jamaica 1 
			 Japan 35 
			 Latvia 382 
			 Kyrgyzstan 3 
			 Liechtenstein 5 
		
	
	
		
			 Lithuania 1,698 
			 Luxembourg 144 
			 Malta 85 
			 Mauritius 4 
			 Mexico 23 
			 Netherlands 4,793 
			 Netherland Antilles 2 
			 New Zealand 58 
			 Norway 259 
			 Pakistan 2 
			 Poland 3,637 
			 Portugal 595 
			 Romania 1,855 
			 Russia 117 
			 San Marino 1 
			 Saudi Arabia 1 
			 Singapore 34 
			 Slovakia 481 
			 Slovenia 172 
			 Spain 6,712 
			 South Africa 3 
			 South Korea 1 
			 Sri Lanka 1 
			 St Vincent 3 
			 Sudan 1 
			 Sweden 577 
			 Switzerland 883 
			 Taiwan 5 
			 Tanzania 1 
			 Thailand 3 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 6 
			 Turkey 2 
			 UAE 230 
			 USA 1,030 
			 Country not recorded 137 
			 Total 141,434 
		
	
	This information was taken from the Pets Statistics Database on 5 March 2013.

Floods: Insurance

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what substantive discussions took place between his Department and the insurance industry with regard to the statement of principles on flood risk insurance between July 2008 and May 2010.

Richard Benyon: As has become custom, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of meetings that were held under a previous Administration.

Food: Poverty

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will introduce a food poverty measure; and if he will commission an annual review of levels of food poverty in the UK.

David Heath: DEFRA actively monitors retail food prices and their impact on household expenditure through its Family Food Survey. We know that some households are seeing the amount they spend on food increase and there is evidence that households are trading down to cheaper products.
	On average in 2011, food accounted for 11.3% of all household expenditure, an increase from 10.5% in 2007. However, expenditure on food in low income households (the bottom 20%) accounted for 16.6% of all expenditure in 2011. This was 15.2% in 2007.
	We have no plans to conduct any additional measurement of food poverty or to commission annual reviews.
	The Government provide safety nets through welfare to support those on low incomes and out of work. The Government also provide schemes to help the most vulnerable in society afford and have access to nutritious food, such as the Healthy Start scheme. Through schemes like Love Food Hate Waste and Change4life we are helping individuals to plan affordable, nutritious meals and reduce the food they waste.

Government Procurement Card

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm's length bodies in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012.

Richard Benyon: The mean average spend by the Department and in arm's length bodies is shown in the table by financial year. Therefore the calculations reflect the average spend on Government Procurement Cards for all staff in each body, although not all staff held a card.
	Information for the 2012-13 financial year is not yet available.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Body 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Core DEFRA 1,353 1,395 
			    
			 Executive Agencies   
			 Rural Payments Agency 167 106 
			 Veterinary Medicines Directorate 518 887 
			 Animal Heath and Veterinary Laboratory Agency 351 306 
			 Food and Environment Research Agency 1,580 1,761 
			 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 2,067 2,265 
			    
			 NDPBs   
			 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew 73 275 
			 Natural England 2,074 2,128 
			 Marine Management Organisation 1969 2,625 
			 Environment Agency 2,892 3,103 
			 Joint Nature Conservation Committee 3,112 3,679 
			 Consumer Council for Water 2,142 2,019 
		
	
	
		
			 Gangmasters Licensing Authority 234 399

Horse Passports

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many horse passports have been issued by each organisation in the UK able to issue them in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

David Heath: DEFRA does not collect annualised data on horse passports issued by each UK passport issuing authority (PIO). The following table lists the total passports issued by UK PIOs and uploaded to the National Equine Database as at 2 July 2012 broken down by PIO:
	
		
			 PIO name PIO code Number of passports issued as of 2 July 2012 
			 Northern Ireland Horse Board Co-op Society Ltd 372414 17,601 
			 Anglo-European Studbook Ltd. 826002 24,288 
			 British Association for the Purebred Spanish Horse Ltd 826003 2,683 
			 British Horse Society 826004 31,280 
			 British Appaloosa Society 826005 2,993 
			 British Hanoverian Horse Society 826006 3,396 
			 British Horse Database 826007 6,681 
			 British Miniature Horse Society 826008 1,674 
			 British Morgan Horse Society 826009 461 
			 British Palomino Society 826010 706 
			 British Percheron Horse Society 826011 1,523 
			 American Quarter Horse Association UK 826012 1,831 
			 British Skewbald and Piebald Association 826013 7,929 
			 British Spotted Pony Society 826015 2,036 
			 Warmblood Breeders Studbook—UK 826016 2,688 
			 Caspian Horse Society 826017 316 
			 Cleveland Bay Horse Society 826018 5,641 
			 Dales Pony Society 826020 2,498 
			 Dartmoor Pony Society 826021 15,255 
			 Donkey Breed Society 826022 705 
			 British Connemara Pony Society 826023 6,385 
			 Eriskay Pony Society 826024 319 
			 Exmoor Pony Society 826025 4,049 
			 Spotted Pony Breed Society (Great Britain) 826026 450 
			 Fell Pony Society 826027 6,358 
			 Fjord Horse National Stud-book Association of Great Britain 826028 496 
			 Friesian Horse Association of Great Britain and Ireland Ltd 826029 347 
			 Hackney Horse Society 826030 930 
			 Highland Pony Society 826031 2,244 
			 Icelandic Horse Society Of Great Britain 826032 237 
			 International Miniature Horse and Pony Society 826033 3,588 
			 Irish Draught Horse Society (GB) 826034 6,708 
			 Lipizzaner National Studbook Association of Great Britain 826035 2,687 
		
	
	
		
			 National Pony Society 826037 11,752 
			 New Forest Pony Breeding and Cattle Society 826038 24,437 
			 Shetland Pony Stud-Book Society 826039 23,315 
			 Shire Horse Society 826040 5,740 
			 Sport Horse Breeding of Great Britain 826041 31,318 
			 Spotted Horse and Pony Society(1) 826042 131 
			 Suffolk Horse Society 826043 697 
			 Arab Horse Society 826044 27,465 
			 Trakehners UK 826045 1,830 
			 Welsh Pony and Cob Society 826046 131,531 
			 Scottish Sports Horse 826047 4,857 
			 Weatherbys ID Passports 826048 61,809 
			 British Driving Society 826049 21,919 
			 British Harness Racing Club(1) 826050 194 
			 British Equestrian Federation 826051 2 
			 Hurlingham Polo Association 826052 14,544 
			 Caspian Breed Society (UK) 826053 0 
			 Coloured Horse and Pony Society (UK) 826054 7,063 
			 Scottish Icelandic Horse Association 826055 0 
			 Standard and Trotting Horse Association of Great Britain and Ireland 826056 8,257 
			 British Bavarian Warmblood Association 826057 78 
			 Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHc) UK Ltd 826058 594 
			 Fjord Horse Studbook Society 826059 82 
			 Sport Pony Studbook Society 826060 790 
			 Eriskay Pony (Mother Society)—Comann Each nan Eilean Ltd 826061 84 
			 American Saddlebred Association of Great Britain 826063 99 
			 British Show Jumping Association 826064 7,329 
			 Haflinger Society Of Great Britain 826065 864 
			 Miniature Mediterranean Donkey Association of UK 826066 0 
			 Pleasure Horse Society 826067 41,333 
			 Gypsy Cob Society(1) 826068 7,992 
			 Horse Passport Agency Ltd 826069 178,293 
			 Lipizzaner Society of Great Britain 826070 102 
			 United Saddlebred Association UK Ltd 826071 550 
			 Clydesdale Horse Society 826072 1,419 
			 Pet-ID Equine 826073 118,744 
			 Horse Passports Ltd 826074 5,639 
			 Veteran Horse Society 826075 21,727 
			 Farmkey 826076 22,804 
			 Selle Francais EquiCours(1) 826077 43 
			 American Miniature Horse Club 826078 65 
			 British Falabella Studbook(1) 826079 180 
			 British Carmargue Horse Society 826080 79 
			 Lusitano Breed Society (Great Britain) 826081 250 
			 Show Jumping Association of Ireland—Ulster Region 826082 1,128 
			 Oakdales (NI) Ltd 826083 588 
			 British Show Horse Association 826084 127 
			 Studbook for Irish and European Sporthorses 826088 113 
			 The Traditional Gypsy Cob Association Limited 826089 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Weatherbys 8260GB 396,816 
			 British Equestrian Federation (EU non-UK Equines) 826BEF 397 
			 Total  1,352,153 
			 (1) No longer authorised to issue or update passports

Horse Passports

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what plans he has in place to improve the process of issuing horse passports;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the efficiency of the horse passport issuing system; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: The Government remain committed to exploring ways to improve the horse passport system within the framework of European legislation, and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and my noble Friend the Lord de Mauley met representatives of various equine sectors on 21 February to discuss this. Officials will continue to work with representatives of the sectors to improve the system.

Horse Passports

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received from the Trading Standards Institute regarding horse passports.

David Heath: DEFRA has not received any recent representations from the Trading Standards Institute regarding horse passports.

Horses: France

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many horses were (a) imported from and (b) exported to France in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many horses were imported in each of the last five years.

David Heath: Equidae (which includes horses, ponies, asses, mules, donkeys and zebras) moving between European Union member states have to be accompanied by a health certificate and movements are recorded on TRACES (a pan European database). However, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France apply a derogation from these requirements through the Tri-Partite Agreement. TRACES therefore does not record the total number of horse movements between the UK and France.
	Horses imported from France
	Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs record the number of horses imported from France in the last five years, based on VAT returns, as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2012 223 
			 2011 289 
			 2010 288 
			 2009 2,985 
		
	
	
		
			 2008 198 
		
	
	Horses licensed for export to France
	The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) issues export licences for some horse movements to France, but not for thoroughbreds used for racing, breeding and training.
	
		
			  Horses Ponies Totals 
			 2013(1) 336 38 374 
			 2012 5,203 602 5,805 
			 2011 4,843 660 5,506 
			 2010 3,918 953 4,871 
			 2009 4,290 1,003 5,293 
			 (1) Issued up to 1 March. Note: Figures are not available for 2008. 
		
	
	The number of equidae imported from third (non EU) countries and EU countries in each of the past five years is as follows (source TRACES):
	
		
			 Imported from third (non-EU) countries destined for the UK 
			  Number 
			 2012 2,019 
			 2011 6,502 
			 2010 2,013 
			 2009 1,866 
			 2008 2,871 
		
	
	
		
			 Imported from EU member states (other than France and the Republic of Ireland) 
			  Number 
			 2012 3,855 
			 2011 3,483 
			 2010 3,363 
			 2009 3,152 
			 2008 3,878

Annual Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies qualify for privilege days; and what the total cost to the public purse was of the number of privilege days utilised each year by such officials.

Richard Benyon: From March 2013, staff in core DEFRA and its Executive Agencies will not qualify for privilege days. They will receive a day off for the Queen's birthday, in addition to annual leave. This follows a review of terms and conditions, as part of the Civil Service Reform plan, in order to deliver a modern employment offer for the civil service.
	Staff in the Department's non-departmental public bodies shown in the following table receive 1.5 privilege days and a day off for the Queen's birthday. Headcount for these organisations is shown as appropriate in the table.
	
		
			 NDPB Headcount 
			 Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) 68 
			 Joint Nature Conservation Council (JNCC) 174 
			 Marine Management Organisation (MMO 322 
			 Natural England (NE) 2,333 
			 Consumer Council for Water (CCW) (1)72 
			 (1) Not funded by taxpayer. 
		
	
	No official estimate has been made of the cost to the public purse of the privilege days detailed above.

Marine Conservation Zones

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding has been allocated in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 for further evidence gathering within the 96 marine conservation zones not being taken forward for designation in 2013.

Richard Benyon: In 2013-14, DEFRA and the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies expect to spend around £1.6 million on further evidence gathering surveys on the Marine Conservation Zones not proposed for designation in 2013. Detailed plans for further surveys on potential MCZs are under development. Future budgets have not yet been confirmed.

Marine Conservation Zones

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the Government have not published the report, Contribution of marine protected areas to protecting highly mobile species, MB0114; and if he will publish the report for stakeholders to examine prior to the closure of his Department's consultation on proposals for the designation of marine conservation zones.

Richard Benyon: A copy of the draft report of the Marine Protected Areas and Mobile Species desk study (MB0114) is available on DEFRA's website:
	http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu= Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed= 0&ProjectID=18033

Slaughterhouses

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what proportion of animals, by species, that were slaughtered for human or other consumption were slaughtered according to (a) Halal slaughter doctrine, (b) Kosher slaughter doctrine and (c) otherwise were not stunned before slaughter in the last four years for which figures are available.

David Heath: The Food Standards Agency undertook a one week survey in approved slaughterhouses in September 2011. The survey indicated that the number of animals slaughtered by Halal and Kosher methods during the survey period were as follows:
	
		
			  Halal Kosher  
			 Species Number Percentage Number Percentage Total number of animals slaughtered in the week 
			 Poultry and Rabbits 4,759,586 30 71,236 0.5 16,101,844 
			 Cattle, Sheep and Goats 156,526 45 2,413 0.7 351,284 
		
	
	During the survey period, it was found that three per cent of cattle, 10% of sheep and goats and 4% of poultry were slaughtered without prior stunning. The survey also showed that over 80% of animals slaughtered as Halal were stunned before being slaughtered.

Slaughterhouses

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received on the clear labelling of non-stun slaughtered animals.

David Heath: DEFRA consulted on measures to implement Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 (on the protection of animals at the time of killing) during September and October 2012. Although outside the scope of the consultation, many consultees confirmed their support for the introduction of a method of slaughter labelling. We are currently considering the responses received and will be publishing a summary of the responses together with the Government's response to all the points made. Separately, DEFRA has received and continues to receive, a regular flow of correspondence on this issue from members of the public and others with an interest.

Slaughterhouses

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much and what proportion of meat consumed in each of the last four years for which figures are available was sold as (a) Halal, (b) Kosher and (c) other meat which was not stunned before slaughter.

David Heath: We do not keep records of the proportion of meat consumed according to method of slaughter applied.

Slaughterhouses

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will discuss with (a) abattoirs, (b) the meat trade, (c) the retail sector, (d) the veterinary sector, (e) consumers and (f) religious groups the clear labelling of non-stunned before slaughter meat products.

David Heath: I discussed method of slaughter labelling with representatives of the British Veterinary Association at a meeting on 7 March 2013. Labelling was also one of the topics raised during a meeting between DEFRA, Food Standards Agency and the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) officials and representatives of the Jewish and Muslim Communities which took place on 14 March 2013. DEFRA officials also attended a meeting with the Sikh Council UK on 27 February 2013 which was hosted by DCLG, and which discussed method of slaughter labelling issues.
	I have no specific plans at this time for further meetings to discuss this issue with any of the other groups mentioned in this question. However, I do maintain regular contact with them and this will provide an opportunity for further discussion of this topic if appropriate.

Slaughterhouses

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will undertake a review of the estimate of non-stun before slaughter practice in abattoirs.

David Heath: I have no plans to undertake a review of the estimate of non-stun before slaughter practices in abattoirs. However, I understand the Food Standards Agency Board has agreed to repeat the survey of approved slaughterhouses which was undertaken in September 2011. It is anticipated this will take place in September 2013. This will provide further information on the extent of non-stun slaughter practices.

Slaughterhouses

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has made an estimate of the (a) amount and (b) proportion of meat sold in the UK from animals which has not been stunned before slaughter, but which has not been labelled clearly as such.

David Heath: There is currently no legal requirement in European Union or national law to indicate method of slaughter on meat labels. However, where meat is labelled voluntarily to show method of slaughter, this must be accurate and must not mislead the consumer. We have no information to show the proportion of meat sold in the United Kingdom from animals which have not been stunned before slaughter.

Slaughterhouses

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has plans to review the regulation of labelling of meat products in respect of the animal welfare standards employed during slaughter.

David Heath: The Government supported the compromise agreement reached in the context of proposals for the European Union Food Information for Consumers Regulation 1169/2011, that method of slaughter labelling should be considered by the EU Commission in a welfare context. The Government will be working with the Commission to ensure all measures that help minimise the suffering of animals slaughtered without stunning are considered.

Nanotechnology

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make representations to the International Standards Organisation's Nanotechnologies Committee to report on an early day; and if he will ask the group to consider whether a common standard for particle size in regulating (a) nanotechnologies and (b) air pollution would be appropriate.

Richard Benyon: We have no plans to approach the International Standards Organisation's Nanotechnologies Committee on the issue of applying a common particle size for regulatory purposes. This is because a number of studies have concluded that while the categorisation ‘nanomaterial’ relates to the particle size, the behaviour and effects of nanomaterials are determined by a range of properties. The European Commission has adopted a Recommendation on the Definition of a Nanomaterial (2011/696/EU), which is being applied in EU legislation where appropriate and will be reviewed and adapted in future as necessary. Particle size is already defined in the Ambient Air Quality Directive and associated guidance for the purposes of air pollution control, for particulate matter less than 10 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) and particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5).

Natural Resources

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what work his Department is currently undertaking on resource depletion and its implications for UK growth.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA recognises that business success and UK growth depend on the efficient use of resources, and ensuring that companies address and manage any potential risks around 'depletion' or supply interruption.
	The Government's Resource Security Action Plan, published by DEFRA and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in March 2012, set out the Government's position on the security of supply of materials, particularly metals and minerals. The action plan outlined the need for a partnership approach between business and the Government to manage the implications for the UK. It sets out actions by the Government and business to make the most of valuable resources, save money and address resource risks. It highlights the potential of improved resource efficiency, re-use, re-manufacturing and recycling to both address resource risks and contribute to a sustainable growing economy. Work is in progress to follow up the actions.

Overtime Payments

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date.

Richard Benyon: The amounts spent by core DEFRA and its arm's length bodies on overtime are set out in the table. The average has been calculated using the total number of staff, as reported in each organisation's Annual Report and Accounts for 2010-11 and 2011-12, divided by total spend on overtime. Therefore calculations reflect the average cost of overtime for all staff in each body, even though not all staff were paid overtime.
	It is not possible to provide a similar average for 2012-13 as staff numbers for the year have not yet been published.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13(1) 
			  Average overtime cost per member of staff Total cost of overtime payments Average overtime cost per member of staff Total cost of overtime payments Total cost of overtime payments 
			 Core DEFRA 144 358,186 154 348,453 306,884 
			       
			 Executive Agencies      
			 Rural Payments Agency 139 356,533 414 999,201 411,720 
			 Veterinary Medicines Directorate 176 26,600 150 23,334 34,305 
			 Animal Heath and Veterinary Laboratory Agency 308 834,167 434 1,110,058 810,307 
			 Food and Environment Research Agency 44 37,636 46 39,192 260,589 
			 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 599 325,000 693 354,000 276,000 
			       
			 NDPBs      
			 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew 421 313,465 434 309,751 236,000 
			 Natural England 212 581,000 168 385,700 399,900 
			 Marine Management Organisation 760 190,108 1583 400,453 223,677 
			 Environment Agency 469 5,463,675 478 5,186,672 7,113,813 
			 Joint Nature Conservation Committee 157 21,664 21 2,861 28,537 
			 Consumer Council for Water 14 1,054 7 461 15 
			 Gang masters Licensing Authority 4 297 5 314 n/a 
			 Agriculture arid Horticulture Development Board 22 6,658 30 9,659 10,529 
			 National Forest Company 455 8,833 578 9,125 8,640 
			 (1) To 31 December 2012. n/a = Not available.

Plants

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees in each year from 2005 to 2010.

Richard Benyon: The amount spent by core DEFRA on indoor and outdoor plants and trees in each financial year from 2005-06 to 2008-09 is shown in the following table. Costs for 2009-10 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Financial year Expenditure (£) 
			 2005-06 32,952 
			 2006-07 40,457 
			 2007-08 41,686 
			 2008-09 36,481

Procurement

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs into which contracts of a value above £50 his Department has entered for the supply of food and drink primarily produced in Cumbria in the last 12 months.

Richard Benyon: Core DEFRA has not entered into any contract of above £50 for the supply of food and drink primarily produced in Cumbria in the last 12 months.

School Milk

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West of 7 March 2013, Official Report, column 1169W, on school milk, whether the Government plans to submit a response to the consultation; and if he will publish any such response.

David Heath: The Government will respond to the European Commission's consultation and we anticipate that the European Commission will publish all responses.
	The timing of the consultation is unusual since it seeks opinions which might change future EU school milk and fruit schemes, when all member states are still negotiating the latest EU school programmes within wider CAP/SCMO 2013-2020 negotiations.

Sheep Worrying

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he will review the penalties available to a court for an offence of worrying sheep pursuant to section 1(1) of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953; and if he will bring forward proposals to increase those penalties.

David Heath: There is no proposal to review the maximum penalty for the offence under section 1(1) of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, which currently stands at level 3 on the standard scale of fines (£1,000).

Whales: Japan

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations his Department has made to the Japanese Government to end whale slaughter.

Richard Benyon: I attended last year's International Whaling Commission meeting in July (IWC64) where I made clear to Japan the strength of feeling in this country about the killing of all cetaceans, and of the UK Government's support for the moratorium on commercial whaling.
	The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised UK concerns in relation to Japanese whaling on a visit to Japan in January. British officials also regularly meet with Japanese officials both in London and Tokyo to express opposition to Japan's so-called 'scientific' whaling.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Drax Power Station

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues about the £75 million debt guarantee for the Drax coal to biomass conversion project.

John Hayes: DECC Ministers meet regularly with other Ministers to discuss a range of issues. As has been the case with successive Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
	The Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), announced the UK Guarantee scheme in July 2012. Infrastructure UK within HM Treasury is charged with providing a stronger focus on the UK's long-term infrastructure priorities. Further details of the UK Guarantee scheme can be found at
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/iuk_uk_guarantees.htm

Energy Company Obligation

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential effects on consumer energy bills if the costs of delivering the Energy Company Obligation prove to be higher than those forecast in his Department's impact assessment.

Gregory Barker: In the final Green Deal and ECO impact assessment, we estimated a total cost to energy companies of delivering ECO at around £1.3 billion a year on average. This is broadly comparable to the estimated costs of the previous schemes, CERT and CESP, and on this basis we have estimated there should be no significant change to pass-through costs to consumers—though whether and how costs are passed through to consumers is a question for individual energy companies. The IA also set out a number of sensitivities, including low and high demand scenarios, but £1.3 billion was the central, best estimate.
	Under ECO, we have new powers to collect data on the actual costs of delivery, the costs of administering the scheme and the costs passed through to consumers.

Energy Company Obligation

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he will take to review the costs of delivering the Energy Company Obligation if the costs prove to be higher than those forecast in his Department's impact assessment; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: Under ECO, we have new powers to collect data on the actual costs of delivery, the costs of administering the scheme and the costs passed through to consumers. The Department will be closely monitoring all available data, and will welcome robust information from any party who is able to provide it.

Wind Power

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the safety of wind turbines and the effects of their proximity to dwellings.

Gregory Barker: Wind generators, in the same way as all other industries, are covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) which requires them as duty holders to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their employees and any members of the public who may be affected by their activities.
	Duty-holders are responsible for assessing and controlling the risks from their undertaking—and it is for the sector to prepare industry standards. For example RenewablesUK have published wind turbine safety rules and guidance, details of which can be seen at
	http://www.renewableuk.com/
	There are also well established British and European Standards covering product safety.
	In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) performs appropriate regulatory checks on the operation and maintenance of wind turbines and also commissions research as needed.

Wind Power

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will list the sites of (a) established and (b) proposed (i) on-shore and (ii) off-shore wind farms; and what the generation capacity is of each.

Gregory Barker: There are currently 44 offshore wind farms either operational, under construction, awaiting construction or awaiting a planning decision.
	For onshore wind there are currently 1,685 wind farms either operational, under construction, awaiting construction or awaiting a planning decision.
	Details of all these wind farms including generating capacity, along with all other renewable developments, are in the public domain and can be found on the Department’s Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD):
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

HEALTH

Cancer

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what evaluation his Department (a) has made and (b) plans to make on patient satisfaction with the Cancer Care Review Process;
	(2)  what evaluation his Department (a) has made and (b) plans to make on what GPs have included as part of their Cancer Care Reviews;
	(3)  what proportion of those eligible did not receive a Cancer Care Review within six months of receiving confirmation of their diagnosis in the latest period for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: Cancer reviews are carried out under the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), which is a voluntary part of the general practitioners (GPs) contract. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is responsible for keeping QOF indicators under review and making recommendations for changes.
	In June 2012 NICE's independent QOF Advisory Committee reviewed the cancer review indicator. As a result, NICE published a recommendation in August 2012 that reviews should be carried out within three months of the practice receiving confirmation of a cancer diagnosis, rather than the current six months. This recommendation has been incorporated into the GP contract for 2013-14. Guidance, also developed by NICE, advises that as part of the review patients' health and support needs are considered, along with the co-ordination of care between sectors. The revised guidance for 2013-14 also refers to a template developed by Macmillan Cancer Support in collaboration with the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative to support GP practices in carrying out the review.
	QOF data for England for 2011-12 (the most recent available) show 8.1% of eligible patients did not receive a review within the six month period.
	More generally, the latest GP Patient Survey (2012) shows that 92% of patients reported as having cancer in the last five years rated their overall experience of their GP surgery as good compared to the general population rating of 88%.

Deep-vein Thrombosis

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the geographical variation in the prescribing of rivaroxaban for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and prevention of recurrent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Norman Lamb: Further to my reply of 12 March 2013, Official Report, columns 178-9W, giving a breakdown of primary care prescribing of rivaroxaban, a breakdown of the use of rivaroxaban in secondary care by strategic health authority is shown in the table.
	Prescribing data do not include the indication for which the medicine has been given. It is therefore not possible to separate out prescribing for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and prevention of recurrent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism from other uses such as prevention of stroke arid systemic embolism.
	
		
			 Strategic health authority 2011-12 cost (£) Cost per head of population (pence per head) 
			 East Midlands 206,921 4.6 
			 East of England 263,689 4.5 
			 London 237,896 3.0 
			 North East 25,125 1.0 
			 North West 454,595 6.6 
			 South Central 243,895 5.9 
			 South East Coast 434,387 9.9 
			 South West 271,018 5.1 
			 West Midlands 184,165 3.4 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 613,118 11.6 
			 England 2,934,809 5.6 
			 Source: Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre

Deep-vein Thrombosis

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has received reports of NHS trusts ceasing to prescribe rivaroxaban in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and prevention of recurrent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Norman Lamb: We are not aware of any such reports. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published technology appraisal guidance recommending rivaroxaban as an option for treating deep vein thrombosis and preventing recurrent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism after a diagnosis of acute deep vein thrombosis in adults. National health service organisations are legally obliged to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance. Decisions on the prescribing of medicines are a matter for clinicians in discussion with their patients.

Epilepsy

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what resources he plans to make available to support the diagnosis and care of people suffering from Dravet syndrome;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the suitability of the support available to the families of children suffering from Dravet syndrome through (a) the NHS and (b) other sources.

Norman Lamb: We have not assessed the suitability of the support available for those affected by Dravet syndrome.
	From April 2013, specialised neuroscience services for children and young people and adult specialised neuroscience services will be commissioned by the NHS Commissioning Board's (NHS CB) specialised commissioning teams. The provision of non-specialised health services for people with Dravet syndrome is a matter for the local national health service.
	Local authorities are responsible for providing or arranging social care services for their populations and will provide or arrange such care based on need rather than on an individual having a particular diagnosis or condition.
	In the Government's mandate to the NHS CB, we set an objective to ensure that whether NHS care is commissioned nationally by the Board, or locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) the results should be measured and published against the relevant areas in the NHS Outcomes Framework.
	The mandate also includes a number of specific objectives relating to the support of people with long-term conditions such as Dravet syndrome. It emphasises the Government's ambition to provide people with a personalised care plan, should they want one, and experience better integrated, more co-ordinated care based on individual needs and preferences.
	From April 2013, CCGs must co-operate with local authorities in the assessment of the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND), as part of their joint strategic needs assessments, and the agreement of a joint health and wellbeing strategy. In the Mandate, the NHS CB has been set a further objective to ensure that children and young people with SEND have access to the services in their agreed care plan, and that parents of children who could benefit have the option of a personal budget based on a single assessment across health, social care and education.
	The forthcoming Children and Families Bill will introduce a duty on local authorities and CCGs to commission services jointly, to meet the needs of young people with SEND. The Bill will introduce a streamlined, single assessment involving professionals and commissioners and will identify education, health and care needs for the child or young person with SEND and inform an individual Education, Health and Care Plan focusing on outcomes and the integrated services to deliver them.

Family Nurse Partnership Programme

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2013, Official Report, column 1059W, on Family Nurse Partnership Programme, how many first-time mothers under the age of (a) 16, (b) 18 and (c) 20 years old there were in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The table provided lists the number of first-time mothers under 16, under 18 and under 20 in 2011-12. Figures are cumulative, i.e. first time mothers under 16 are also counted in the under 18 and under 20 figures.
	These data are calculated using English Hospital Episode Statistics and as such relate to hospital births in England only.
	
		
			  Number of previous pregnancies 
			 Age of mother None One or more Unknown 
			 Under 16 575 52 229 
			 Under 18 5,688 1,007 2,241 
			 Under 20 18,638 6,461 8,522

Family Nurse Partnership Programme

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2013, Official Report, column 1059W, on Family Nurse Partnership Programme, how many (a) places and (b) applications to the programme there have been to date, by local authority.

Daniel Poulter: Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is a voluntary programme targeted at first time mothers aged 20 and under.
	The following table shows the number of FNP places in England by upper tier local authority as of 1 March 2013. FNP is currently delivered in 91 upper tier local authority areas. The Government are committed to expanding the number of places on the FNP programme to 13,000 by 2015. This expansion will focus on bringing FNP to those areas currently without FNP, especially those that are most disadvantaged, as well as expansion in existing areas with the highest levels of deprivation.
	Young mothers are referred to the programme from a range of sources including self-referral, maternity services, general practitioners and other professionals. The number of individual referrals to FNP providers from all of these sources is not held centrally. Approximately 80% of mothers who were offered a place on the programme accepted it.
	
		
			  FNP places 
			 Barking and Dagenham 100 
			 Barnet 100 
			 Barnsley 150 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 100 
			 Birmingham 425 
			 Blackpool 100 
			 Bolton 100 
			 Bracknell Forest 50 
			 Bradford 200 
			 Brighton and Hove 100 
			 Buckinghamshire 100 
			 Calderdale 100 
			 Cambridgeshire 125 
			 Cheshire East 150 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 100 
			 Cornwall 200 
			 County Durham 200 
			 Coventry 175 
			 Croydon 100 
			 Cumbria 150 
			 Darlington 100 
			 Derby 200 
			 Derbyshire 200 
			 Doncaster 100 
			 Dudley 150 
			 Ealing 100 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 50 
			 East Sussex 300 
		
	
	
		
			 Essex 50 
			 Gateshead 100 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 75 
			 Haringey 100 
			 Hartlepool 50 
			 Hertfordshire 100 
			 Hounslow 100 
			 Kingston upon Hull 175 
			 Islington 100 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 25 
			 Kent 200 
			 Kirklees 175 
			 Knowsley 125 
			 Lambeth 125 
			 Leeds 225 
			 Leicester 150 
			 Lewisham 100 
			 Liverpool 150 
			 Manchester 250 
			 Medway 125 
			 Middlesbrough 50 
			 Milton Keynes 100 
			 Norfolk 225 
			 North East Lincolnshire 50 
			 North Lincolnshire 50 
			 North Yorkshire 50 
			 Northamptonshire 175 
			 Nottingham 225 
			 Nottinghamshire 200 
			 Oxfordshire 200 
			 Peterborough 100 
			 Plymouth 125 
			 Portsmouth 200 
			 Reading 75 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 50 
			 Rotherham 100 
			 Sandwell 150 
			 Sheffield 150 
			 Slough 50 
			 Solihull 50 
			 South Tyneside 100 
			 Southampton 125 
			 Southend-on-Sea 100 
			 Southwark 150 
			 Staffordshire 225 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 50 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 125 
			 Suffolk 75 
			 Sunderland 150 
			 Swindon 125 
			 Telford and Wrekin 100 
			 Tower Hamlets 150 
			 Wakefield 200 
			 Walsall 150 
			 Waltham Forest 100 
			 Warwickshire 175 
			 West Berkshire 25 
			 West Sussex 100 
			 Westminster 25 
			 Wigan 100 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 50 
		
	
	
		
			 Wirral 150 
			 Wokingham 25 
			 Total 11,475

Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of future costs of the decision by his Department to refer to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence the evaluation of cost, benefit and affordability for eculizumab in the treatment of atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome.

Norman Lamb: We have made no such estimate. The cost of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) evaluation of eculizumab for the treatment of atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome will be met from the resources agreed for NICE's overall work programme.

Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services' recommendation for eculizumab in the treatment of atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome.

Norman Lamb: The Advisory Group for National Specialised Services' full advice to Ministers on this issue is confidential.

Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider meeting the manufacturers of eculizumab for the treatment of atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Departmental officials last met with Alexion, the manufacturer of eculizumab, on 31 January 2013. Ministers currently have no plans to meet with the company.

Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from the NHS Commissioning Board on the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services' decision to recommend eculizumab in the treatment of atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome.

Norman Lamb: We have received no such representations. The Department sought views from the NHS Commissioning Board to inform the advice provided to Ministers on the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services' recommendations.

Human Papillomavirus

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  for what reason parents of children about to receive the HPV vaccination are not given a copy of the relevant patient information leaflet prior to signing a consent form for vaccination;
	(2)  if he will make it his policy that parents should be given the option of providing consent for each HPV vaccination in the course of the three treatments.

Anna Soubry: Consent must be obtained before starting any medical treatment or physical investigation or before providing personal care for a patient. This includes the administration of vaccines.
	When seeking consent, it is important that the individual concerned is given sufficient information to enable them to make an informed decision and ensure consent is valid. In schools, information leaflets about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination should be available for the child's own use and to share with parents prior to the date on which the immunisation is scheduled. The model consent form for HPV vaccine makes this clear. Responsibility for providing this information locally rests with the local national health service organisation and immunisation provider involved.
	The model HPV form provides for consent to be given for all three doses of HPV vaccine. However, this is only an agreement for the child to be included in the immunisation programme and consent should be sought on the occasion of each immunisation visit. This consent may be given in writing, orally or by co-operation.
	Full guidance on issues around consent for immunisation is contained in the Department's publication, ‘Immunisation against Infectious disease’, also known as the ‘Green Book'. A copy has been placed in the Library, along with copies of the Department's information leaflets on HPV vaccine.

Maternity Services: Northamptonshire

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for investment in maternity services in (a) Corby town and (b) East Northamptonshire.

Daniel Poulter: Primary care trusts are responsible for commissioning local health services, including maternity services, on behalf of their communities. From 1 April 2013, this responsibility will move to clinical commissioning groups.

Prostate Cancer

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many men were diagnosed with prostatitis or benign prostatic hyperplasia in each primary care trust in England in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not hold information about the number of men diagnosed with prostatitis or benign prostatic hyperplasia centrally.
	With regard to benign prostatic hyperplasia, in 2002, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published ‘Improving Outcomes in Urological Cancers’ which set out best practice for the NHS for the diagnosis, care and treatment of patients with urological cancers.
	The guidance estimates that benign prostatic hyperplasia is least four times as common as prostate cancer.

Sickle Cell Diseases

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure (a) that people with sickle cell disease benefit from integrated services under his planned health care reforms and (b) a smooth transition between the specialised sickle cell disease services commissioned by the NHS Commissioning Board and those services commissioned by clinical commissioning groups.

Norman Lamb: From April 2013 the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) will be responsible for commissioning specialist haemoglobinopathy services, which includes sickle cell.
	The NHS CB is in the process of finalising its 2013-14 service specifications and commissioning policies for these services and they are expected to be published very shortly.

Strokes: Children

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce variations in the provision of transcranial doppler scanning for assessing stroke risk in children with sickle cell disease and to ensure such children at risk are rapidly identified and receive appropriate treatment.

Anna Soubry: From April 2013 the NHS Commissioning Board will be responsible for commissioning specialised haemoglobinopathy services on a national basis. This includes the requirement for specialist centres to provide transcranial Doppler scanning services for children with sickle cell disease to help identify those at high risk of stroke.

Suicide

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the suicide rates were for (a) those in full-time employment and (b) those who were long-term unemployed in each of the last 30 years;
	(2)  what the rate of suicide was in each region in each year for which figures are available; and how many suicides occurred in each such region in each such year.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent questions asking:
	1. What the suicide rates were for (a) those in full-time employment and (b) those who were long-term unemployed in each of the last 30 years.
	2. What the rate of suicide was in each region in each year for which figures are available; and how many suicides occurred in each such region in each such year.
	It is not possible to provide suicide rates for (a) those in full-time employment or (b) those who were long-term unemployed. Whether a person was in full-time or part-time employment is not collected at death registration or routinely recorded by coroners. Although a person can be recorded as ‘unemployed’, the period of time for which they were unemployed is not registered.
	ONS' suicide statistics are based on registrations, not occurrences. Figures for suicide registrations (numbers and rates) in the United Kingdom, England and Wales, and regions of England, by age and sex, are published annually on the ONS website. These figures, available from 1981 on, are based on deaths registered in each calendar year:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-29400
	We are unable to provide 30 years of suicide rates by region by year of occurrence due to disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Number of deaths where suicide was the underlying cause, by region, in England, for deaths that occurred between 1981 and 2011(1,2,3,4,5) 
			  North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands East of England London South East South West 
			 1981 320 844 532 358 508 512 985 820 555 
			 1982 311 843 592 361 509 508 885 798 490 
			 1983 266 773 557 371 529 495 885 811 500 
			 1984 244 773 553 443 516 497 836 843 569 
			 1985 287 829 664 412 552 582 848 887 550 
			 1986 305 858 596 377 509 546 809 798 557 
			 1987 259 824 595 408 509 533 825 769 570 
			 1988 311 807 595 441 560 585 837 850 550 
			 1989 261 704 527 423 530 523 784 780 502 
			 1990 238 792 520 416 532 556 757 820 589 
			 1991 271 818 533 418 485 552 721 835 531 
			 1992 258 756 556 391 530 493 735 851 539 
			 1993 275 722 510 415 546 475 717 769 472 
			 1994 266 727 498 391 467 468 701 768 486 
			 1995 276 735 527 388 494 487 685 743 517 
			 1996 252 746 450 391 433 453 657 756 495 
			 1997 286 747 548 364 462 433 693 742 468 
			 1998 275 831 500 381 488 478 743 758 480 
			 1999 307 768 521 428 565 438 715 738 523 
			 2000 277 730 458 405 519 446 643 778 511 
			 2001 236 675 475 406 513 458 625 709 471 
			 2002 272 657 458 347 482 466 673 762 485 
			 2003 260 686 440 389 443 470 668 748 500 
			 2004 283 659 490 387 447 507 607 739 493 
			 2005 207 674 431 393 445 468 640 668 472 
			 2006 231 646 399 376 392 396 599 642 482 
			 2007 252 636 440 348 411 468 580 624 413 
			 2008 227 689 459 364 484 471 575 746 511 
			 2009 250 637 396 340 434 445 547 684 500 
			 2010 222 595 417 308 442 424 555 669 486 
			 2011 132 349 233 215 224 256 305 401 206 
			 (1) Suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 (intentional self-harm) and Y10-Y34 (injury or poisoning of undetermined intent) for deaths registered from 2001 onwards (excluding Y33.9 where the coroner's verdict was pending for the years 2001 to 2006. From 2007, death registrations which were previously coded to Y33.9 are coded to U50.9.) For the years 1981 to 2000, suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959 (intentional self-harm) and codes E980-E989 (injury or poisoning of undetermined intent), excluding code E988.8 where the coroner's verdict was pending. Deaths were included where one of these codes was the underlying cause of death. (2) Figures are for persons aged 15 and over. (3) Based on boundaries as of February 2013. (4) Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. (5) Figures are based on deaths occurring, rather than deaths registered between 1981 and 2011. Figures for 2010 and 2011 are an underestimate as not all suicides that occurred in those years will have been registered. Further information on registration delays for a range of causes can be found on the ONS website: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/impact-of-registration-delays-on-mortality-statistics/index.html Source: Office for National Statistics

EDUCATION

Academies: Homophobia

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what responsibilities are retained by local authorities for ensuring that academy schools comply with the provisions of the Equalities Act 2010 and the public sector equality duty in relation to homophobia.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 5 March 2013
	The Equality Act 2010 does not place any duties on local authorities to ensure that schools comply with their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. There is, therefore, no role for local authorities to ensure compliance for academies. Under the Equality Act, local authorities have a duty not to discriminate when carrying out their own education functions—such as organisation of schools and arranging admissions. The Equality Act clearly sets out the responsibilities on schools and academies in respect of the discrimination provisions and the equality duties, and they are responsible for ensuring their own compliance.

Childbirth

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will commission research into the effects of premature birth on a child's long-term learning and development.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 4 March 2013
	The Department for Education does not currently have any plans to commission research into the effects of premature birth on a child's long-term learning and development. There is already a wealth of well documented research in this area, for example, the EPICure studies of the survival and later health among babies and young people who were born at extremely low gestations.

Child Poverty

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he will publish an analysis of the consultation responses received on Measuring Child Poverty: a consultation on better measures of child poverty published in November 2012.

David Laws: The consultation closed on 15 February and we are now working our way through the responses. The Government will respond in the summer, detailing the consultation results and setting out next steps.

Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Children Review

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress he has made on implementation of the Bailey Review's recommendations; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: Good progress has been made on implementing the recommendations made by Reg Bailey in the report of his review of the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood, Letting Children be Children. The recommendations were directed mainly at businesses and regulators.
	Members of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) developed a code of practice on retailing age-appropriate clothes for children, which was published in June 2011. The code is used by companies to inform their decisions about the children's clothes they put on sale so that they can avoid styles and designs that might imply the wearer is more sexually mature than their age suggests.
	In September 2011, Ofcom issued guidelines to broadcasters on compliance with the 9 pm watershed on television, which for the first time included a specific focus on programmes which start before and end after the watershed. The guidelines help address concerns that programmes designed to draw mass audiences before the watershed should be family-friendly.
	The four main fixed-line internet services providers (ISPs) published a code of practice in October 2011 promising that all new customers would be offered parental controls on home internet services by October 2012. Each of these ISPs has delivered on that promise. Through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, the Government is working with ISPs to go further and put in place systems that will actively encourage all customers to switch on parental controls if children are in the household and will be using the internet. We are also asking ISPs to put in place checks to ensure that the person setting up the parental controls is over the age of 18.
	The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) issued a warning statement to advertisers in October 2011 setting out its intention to apply the rules on the use of sexual images in on-street advertising more stringently. In April 2012 the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) published further guidance based on the initial adjudications made by the ASA following its warning statement. As a result, some advertisements which would previously have been allowed have been banned because of their use of overly-sexualised images.
	A number of well-known brands have pledged not to use children under the age of 16 in peer-to-peer marketing or as brand ambassadors. The CAP reviewed the practice of employing children for the use of these techniques, concluded that new, stricter guidelines were needed, and published new guidelines in February 2013.
	The UK media regulators set up a single website, ParentPort, to make it easier for parents to complain about any advertisement, television or radio programme, television on demand service or videogame they think is inappropriate for their children to see. The Prime Minister launched ParentPort in October 2011. ParentPort also provides parents with tips to help children use of technology safely and other useful information on a wide range of media, consumer and technology issues.
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport consulted in 2012 on whether changes should be made in relation to exemptions for music, sport, religious and educational videos from statutory age-classification otherwise required by the Video Recordings Act 1984. The consultation proposed that the threshold for exemption required by the Act should be lowered so that these genres should in future be age-rated and that only material likely to be suitable for younger children will remain exempt. The Government's response to the consultation will be published shortly.
	We expect to publish a full report on progress towards the implementation of all the recommendations in Letting Children be Children shortly, and to say what further action we would like to see to tackle the excessive commercialisation and premature sexualisation of childhood.

Curriculum

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if the draft national curriculum documents will be set out according to key stage as well as subject areas to make them easier for schools to download and print.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 4 March 2013
	On 7 February, we published our proposals for the reform of the national curriculum for public consultation. The consultation will run until 16 April and we hope as many people as possible will respond. For the purposes of the consultation, the draft national curriculum documents are set out according to subject area only. There are currently no plans to publish the draft documents by key stage but we will of course keep the matter under review.
	As part of the consultation process we will seek the views of schools and teachers on how best to present the final national curriculum documents when they are published later this year.

Education: Young Offender Institutions

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which organisations provide education in each young offender institution.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 4 March 2013
	The following table lists young offender institutions for those young people aged under 18 and also for those who are aged 18 and over, and their Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) providers.
	The table lists young offender institutions in England only. The list also excludes private young offender institutions where the operator is responsible for providing education under their contract with the National Offender Management Service.
	
		
			 Establishment OLASS provider 
			 Under 18s  
			 HMYOI Cookham Wood CfBT 
			 HMP/YOI Downview (Josephine Butler Unit) CfBT 
			 HMP/YOI Eastwood Park (Mary Carpenter Unit) Norton Radstock College 
			 HMP/YOI Feltham CfBT 
			 HMYOI Hindley The Manchester College 
			 HMP/YOI New Hall (Rivendell Unit) The Manchester College 
			 HMYOI Warren Hill A4E Ltd 
			 HMYOI Wetherby The Manchester College 
			 HMYOI Werrington The Manchester College 
			   
			 Over 18s  
			 HMP Lancaster Farms The Manchester College 
			 HMP Stoke Heath The Manchester College 
			 HMP Thorn Cross The Manchester College 
			 HMP Aylesbury Milton Keynes College 
			 HMP Reading Milton Keynes College 
			 HMP Portland Weston College 
			 HMPYOI Brinsford Milton Keynes College 
			 HMPYOI Swinfen Milton Keynes College 
			 HMPYOI Northallerton The Manchester College 
			 HMP/YOI Hatfield The Manchester College 
			 HMP/YOI Moorland The Manchester College 
			 HMP/YOI Doncaster The Manchester College 
			 HMP/YOI New Hall The Manchester College 
			 HMP/YOI Askham Grange The Manchester College 
			 HMPYOI Glen Parva Milton Keynes College 
			 HMP Deerbolt The Manchester College 
			 HMP/YOI ISIS A4E Ltd 
			 HMPYOI Feltham A4E Ltd 
			 HMP Rochester The Manchester College

Free School Meals

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all children in poverty receive free school meals; and what consultation he is planning on changes to the criteria for entitlement to free school meals.

David Laws: The Government recognise the benefits of healthy school meals and are committed to continuing to provide free school meals to those pupils who need them most. Our priority is to make sure that the most disadvantaged children are able to get a nutritious meal at school. The move to universal credit means that we need to introduce new criteria for free school meals, but these will not reduce the number of children eligible for free school meals.
	We will allow good time to enable schools, local authorities and children's charities to comment on our proposals before we introduce new eligibility criteria.

Free Schools: North West

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many applications for free schools have been made in (a) the North West of England and (b) Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency to date; and how many such applications (i) have been accepted, (ii) have been rejected and (iii) are still under consideration.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has received the following numbers of applications to open a free school in the north-west region and in the Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency:
	
		
			 Numbers of free school applications 
			  Received Accepted Rejected Under consideration 
			 North-west 120 20 68 32 
			 Lancaster and Fleetwood 2 0 1 1 
		
	
	The north-west region consists of the 39 local government districts in north-west England and includes 15 metropolitan districts in Greater Manchester and Merseyside, 18 non-metropolitan districts within Cumbria and Lancashire, and six non-metropolitan districts that are unitary authorities.

National Curriculum Tests

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the timetable is for the planned consultation on Key Stage 2 assessment.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 4 March 2013
	We will shortly publish a consultation on assessment and accountability arrangements for primary schools under the new national curriculum.
	We will confirm the arrangements for assessment and accountability in September, alongside publication of the final national curriculum programmes of study.

Priority School Building Programme

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has made representations to the European Investment Bank for funding for the Priority Schools Building programme.

David Laws: holding answer 13 March 2013
	We continue to work closely with HM Treasury in the development of a financing solution for the privately financed schools within the Priority School Building Programme and we expect this solution to be available for the first batches that we will deliver.
	As a part of this development work, the Education Funding Agency is speaking with interested parties in the funding market, including the European Investment Bank, about possible participation in that funding solution.

Pupil Exclusions

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to mandate schools to publish the full details of the number of pupils suspended, excluded or transferred to pupil referral units on a fixed and permanent basis.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has no plans to mandate schools to publish the full details of the number of pupils receiving fixed-period exclusions, permanent exclusions, or being educated off site in pupil referral units.
	Good behaviour in schools is essential to ensure that teachers can teach and pupils can benefit from the opportunities provided by education. Head teachers must have the option of excluding pupils when warranted, but all exclusions must be legal, reasonable and fair.

Schools: Finance

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he expects to make an announcement on basic needs funding; for what reasons this announcement has not yet been made; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: holding answer 5 March 2013
	A two year allocation of basic need, the 2013-14 maintenance allocation and the launch of the Targeted Basic Need Programme were announced on 1 March. The details are available here:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/schoolscapital/a00222248/targeted-basic-need-programme

Special Educational Needs

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to ensure that child and adolescent mental health is included in professional competency frameworks for school staff.

Edward Timpson: The revised teachers' standards came into effect from September 2012. These require teachers to have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils' ability to learn and how best to overcome these, including difficulties with mental health. Teachers must be aware of all special educational needs and take account of the social development of children and young people. They require all teachers to communicate effectively with parents regarding the pupils' well-being.
	The national occupational standards for staff supporting teaching and learning in schools include a range of standards around the pastoral and welfare needs of pupils. These include, but are not limited to, supporting therapy sessions, prompting resilience and positive relationships, and working in ways that support pupil well-being and prevent the development of challenging behaviours.

Teachers: Training

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many people in receipt of PGCE training bursaries in 2012-13 are (a) UK students and (b) non-UK students.

David Laws: holding answer 11 March 2013
	Training bursary awards for initial teacher training (ITT) are determined by a set of eligibility criteria which is assessed by the ITT provider.
	Non-UK students can be awarded a training bursary if their ITT provider assesses that they satisfy all of the published eligibility criteria which include the subject in which they are training to teach, their eligibility to access the UK student support system and the classification of the trainees' academic award, which is based on assessment of their overseas degree using National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom (UK NARIC).
	There is currently no requirement for ITT providers to report to the Department for Education the number of non-UK students who are eligible for a training bursary award.
	Detailed information on how the training bursary eligibility criteria for the academic year 2012/13 including the UK NARIC data can be found in the published guidance for training bursary guide academic year 2012/13.

Young People: Unemployment

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on the development of Risk of NEET indicators; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: Risk of NEET(1) indicators (RONIs) are a tool developed by local authorities and schools to identify young people most at risk of becoming NEET. RONIs were developed as part of the raising the participation age local delivery projects.
	We encourage the use of RONIs and other tools to identify young people at risk of becoming NEET and to prioritise their use of resources. Local authorities have responsibility for this area and we recognise that the numbers and characteristics of young people NEET vary between different local areas. That is why we think it is important that local authorities should develop their own RONIs, drawing on effective practice in other areas.
	(1) NEET (not in education, employment or training).

JUSTICE

Alternatives to Prison

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to engage members of the public in decisions on the location and the nature of local community payback schemes.

Jeremy Wright: Members of the public are encouraged to identify Community Payback work projects for offenders. Public involvement in the identification of work projects for offenders helps to ensure that Community Payback provides tangible benefits to local communities. The Government are committed to opening up community sentences to a range of new providers. Future providers of Community Payback will be required to demonstrate that they are able to effectively engage with local communities, so that offenders effectively pay back to communities. The Government plan to increase the number of Community Payback work projects nominated by members of the public.
	The Ministry of Justice consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are punished and rehabilitated in the community closed on 22 February. We will respond to the consultation and bring forward detailed plans in due course.

Assaults on Police: Prosecutions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals have been prosecuted for assaulting a police officer in the last 12 months.

Jeremy Wright: Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013. Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in spring 2014.

Judiciary: Pay

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many members of the judiciary earn more than the Prime Minister.

Chris Grayling: There are currently 209 members of the judiciary who earn more than the Prime Minister.

Legal Aid Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to paragraph 8.36 of his Department's Legal Aid Agency Framework Document, if he will place in the Library a copy of the further non-disclosure guidance established between the Legal Aid Agency and his Department based on the Data Protection Act.

Jeremy Wright: I will place a copy of the non-disclosure guidance in the Library, following the creation of the Legal Aid Agency.

Legal Services Commission

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to his statement of 28 February 2013, on the Legal Aid Agency, what estimate he has made of the total number and amount of severance payments to members not transferred from the Legal Services Commission's legal department.

Jeremy Wright: No severance payments are due to be made to staff of the Legal Services Commission’s legal department in the Legal Services Commission's abolition and the creation of the Legal Aid Agency on 1 April 2013.

Legal Services Commission

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to his statement of 28 February 2013, on the Legal Aid Agency, how many members of the Legal Services Commission's legal department will be transferred to the Ministry of Justice Legal Directorate; what their current roles are; and what their roles will be once transferred.

Jeremy Wright: 13 members of the Legal Services Commission's legal department will transfer to the Ministry of Justice's Legal Directorate. They all currently perform professional legal functions, and will continue to do so in the Ministry of Justice's Legal Directorate.

Legal Services Commission

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to his statement of 28 February 2013, on the Legal Aid Agency, how many staff of each designation in the Legal Services Commission's legal department will not be joining or transferring to the Ministry of Justice Legal Directorate.

Jeremy Wright: Five members of the Legal Services Commission's legal department will not be transferring to the Ministry of Justice's Legal Directorate. They are not qualified lawyers.

Prisons

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to his plans to decommission 200 contractually crowded places at private prisons, from which prisons contractually crowded places will be decommissioned; and how much will be saved (a) per place and (b) overall.

Jeremy Wright: In his written ministerial statement of 10 January 2013, Official Report, columns 22-23WS, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), announced plans to decommission 200 contractually crowded additional prison places (APPs) at private prisons. After further work this has increased to 213 places.
	The following table details the prisons at which the places are being decommissioned and the total saving involved:
	
		
			 Prison Number of additional prison places being withdrawn Date by which they will be decommissioned Annual overall cost (£ million) 
			 Altcourse 75 1 April 2013 — 
			 Parc 138 29 July 2013 — 
			 Total 213 — Approx. 3.7 
		
	
	The individual cost of APPs at each prison is commercially confidential.
	The Government are committed to reducing the cost of imprisonment while driving down stubbornly high-reoffending rates. Our intention remains to have more adult male prison capacity available than we had in 2010 but at a much lower unit and overall cost.

Young Offenders: Greater London

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to extend intensive alternatives to custody schemes to young adults in London.

Jeremy Wright: London Probation Trust has decided to pilot intensive community orders for 18 to 24-year-olds from April this year in the following London boroughs: Croydon, Lewisham, Southwark and Hackney. It will be up to local probation professionals to decide whether extending the scheme across London is the best use of their resources.
	It is a matter for courts, drawing on pre-sentence advice from probation professionals, as to whether an intensive community order can be justified rather than a custodial sentence. Changes to the community order framework made by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, such as increases in the length of curfews, give courts tough requirements to use to construct suitably intensive community orders.

CABINET OFFICE

Government Statistics

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when the Government plan to respond to the recommendations of the Public Administration Select Committee report entitled “Public Trust in Government Statistics—A review of the operation of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007”, HC 406, particularly in respect of pre-release access for Ministers.

Nick Hurd: The Government have received the Public Administration Select Committee's report and is considering it carefully. We will respond as soon as possible.

Lobbyists

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent progress the Government have made on publishing legislative proposals for a statutory register of lobbyists; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: The Government are committed to introducing a statutory register of lobbyists.
	We are continuing to carefully consider the evidence submitted in response to our consultation and will publish revised proposals in due course.

Cyber-security

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the involvement of small and medium-sized businesses in the national cyber-security programme.

Chloe Smith: Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of UK industry and as such we are taking steps to both protect businesses in general as well as fuelling the growth of SMEs in the cyber security sector through the National Cyber Security Programme.
	It is estimated that the cyber security market in the UK is worth around £3 billion and is expected to grow to £3.3 billion in 2015. We recognise that Government need to support this sector which is why we have set up a Cyber Growth Partnership with Intellect, the ICT trade organisation representing over 850 SMEs.

Civil Service

Dominic Raab: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to reduce the cost of the civil service.

Francis Maude: To deal with the deficit left by the previous Government, this Government had no choice but to find savings in the civil service. Since the general election the civil service is over 14% smaller and is now at its smallest since the second world war.
	Last year alone this reduction saved the public purse almost £1.5 billion.

Press Office

Peter Bone: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office How many people are employed in his Department’s press office; and what the average cost is of their employment.

Francis Maude: My Department's press office—which also serves No. 10 and the Deputy Prime Minister—employs 31 permanent civil servants on an average salary of £44,147.
	This is far fewer than the 35 employed by the previous Government in 2009, despite an increase in my Department's responsibilities.

Business: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many small and medium-sized businesses were operating in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency and (b) Cumbria in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many small and medium-sized businesses were operating in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency and (b) Cumbria in each of the last five years.
	Annual statistics on the number of businesses (enterprises) are available from the ONS release—UK Business: Activity, Size and Location at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/uk-business/index.html
	Data on the number of enterprises broken down by districts, counties and unitary authorities by employment size band can be found in table B1.2 of the publication and data on constituencies can be found in table B6.2.
	The table contains the count of small and medium-sized businesses that were operating in the Barrow and Furness constituency and Cumbria from 2008 to 2012. Small businesses have been defined as those with an employment between 0 and 49 and medium-sized businesses as those with an employment between 50 and 249.
	
		
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			  Small Med Small Med Small Med Small Med Small Med 
			 Barrow and Furness 2,370 35 2,415 35 2,650 35 2,550 35 2,590 35 
			 Cumbria 22,065 265 21,375 265 21,415 270 20,835 275 20,855 285 
			 Notes: 1. The above table has been produced using annual extracts from the Inter Departmental Business register taken during March of each year. 2. Figures have been rounded to protect confidentiality. 3. These numbers do not include very small businesses, typically those below the threshold for VAT and PAYE.

Honours

Jim Dowd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what criteria are used when assessing the suitability of an individual for (a) a knighthood and (b) all other public honours.

Francis Maude: Honours are intended to recognise exceptional achievement and/or service.
	The currently used criteria and definitions are available publicly and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/honours/types-of-honours-and-awards

Prostate Cancer

Clive Efford: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in each local authority area in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority, I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in each local authority area in each of the last five years.
	The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2010.
	Table 1 provides the number of newly diagnosed cases of prostate cancer in men, local authorities in England, for each of the years 2006 to 2010.
	A copy of Table 1 has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	The latest published figures on cancer incidence in England are available on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/cancer-statistics-registrations--england--series-mb1-/index.html

Public Sector: Procurement

Nick Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress the Government have made towards its target for involvement by small and medium-sized enterprises in public sector contracts.

Chloe Smith: Figures verified by Departments and published on 27 February show that central Government direct SME spend increased from £3.2 billion (6.8%) in 2010-11 to £4.4 billion (10%) in 2011-12.
	In addition, new Cabinet Office figures provided by major Government suppliers indicate that SMEs have in fact benefitted from a further 6% in indirect spend through the supply chain for 2011-12.

Public Sector: Procurement

Nick Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what regulations govern the terms and conditions for prime contractors that sub-contract aspects of public sector contracts.

Chloe Smith: The public contracts regulations allow contracting authorities to ask prime contractors how much of the contract they intend to sub-contract and to whom.
	The Government require Departments to specify, within contracts, that prime contractors should pay subcontractors within 30 days of receiving a valid invoice; and encourages prime contractors to advertise supply chain opportunities on Contracts Finder.

Working Hours

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many hours were worked per week by each family unit or household in (a) each region and (b) nationally in each year for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many hours were worked per week by each family unit or household in (a) each region and (b) nationally in each year for which figures are available (148494).
	Estimates have been provided using the Annual Population Survey (APS) household datasets. They show the number of households by the total hours worked per week for everyone in employment in the household for January to December of each year from 2004 to 2011. It covers hours worked in main job and second job where applicable.
	Households contain at least one person aged 16 to 64 where at least one person is in employment and hours worked are available for all those in employment. This therefore excludes households where no-one is working, including households where all residents are retired.
	Hours worked are not available for some households. Data is not available prior to 2004. The estimates are derived from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and are not seasonally adjusted. As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. Due to the size of the table, it will be stored in the library of the House.
	
		
			 Number of households(1) by total hours worked per week by the household(2), January-December 2004 to 2011, UK and regions of England and the devolved countries of the UK 
			 Thousand 
			  January to December 2004 
			  Total hours worked per week by the household 
			  0-24 25-49 50-74 75-99 100-124 125+ 
			 North East 109 221 144 120 31 20 
			 North West 280 589 408 342 95 51 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 205 437 314 252 80 40 
			 East Midlands 164 368 282 221 66 42 
			 West Midlands 193 436 330 268 79 44 
			 East of England 217 476 382 270 110 58 
			 Inner London 128 288 160 131 50 26 
			 Outer London 150 414 279 201 67 52 
			 South East 332 707 528 411 143 80 
			 South West 217 429 326 248 81 51 
			 Wales 118 243 164 135 43 27 
			 Scotland 221 463 322 258 81 44 
			 Northern Ireland 49 124 98 84 23 19 
			 UK 2,382 5,194 3,736 2,943 950 553 
		
	
	
		
			 Thousand 
			  January to December 2005 
			  Total hours worked per week by the household 
			  0-24 25-49 50-74 75-99 100-124 125+ 
			 North East 113 221 146 120 33 17 
			 North West 264 598 395 346 96 52 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 207 432 315 259 81 40 
			 East Midlands 175 366 296 222 74 39 
			 West Midlands 209 441 318 262 86 49 
			 East of England 216 481 372 301 97 51 
			 Inner London 119 298 165 125 47 28 
			 Outer London 169 412 283 207 61 47 
			 South East 346 691 556 424 146 77 
			 South West 220 422 335 249 78 42 
			 Wales 119 240 167 136 43 25 
			 Scotland 220 465 311 267 84 44 
			 Northern Ireland 50 138 97 83 23 22 
			 UK 2,428 5,207 3,757 3,000 947 533 
		
	
	
		
			 Thousand 
			  January to December 2006 
			  Total hours worked per week by the household 
			  0-24 25-49 50-74 75-99 100-124 125+ 
			 North East 113 218 142 118 40 17 
			 North West 285 592 403 334 96 56 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 226 433 331 242 71 47 
			 East Midlands 185 376 285 233 75 43 
			 West Midlands 215 457 299 258 88 44 
			 East of England 211 498 377 291 95 56 
			 Inner London 124 292 160 133 47 33 
			 Outer London 183 398 278 211 62 52 
			 South East 354 706 558 441 126 84 
			 South West 217 416 341 250 85 44 
			 Wales 120 246 170 136 41 26 
			 Scotland 220 476 317 267 79 49 
			 Northern Ireland 51 141 92 90 24 20 
			 UK 2,503 5,251 3,752 3,003 928 570 
		
	
	
		
			 Thousand 
			  January to December 2007 
			  Total hours worked per week by the household 
			  0-24 25-49 50-74 75-99 100-124 125+ 
			 North East 108 221 145 114 39 20 
			 North West 283 604 387 336 96 56 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 226 454 320 254 67 42 
			 East Midlands 187 369 290 227 70 42 
			 West Midlands 211 462 310 272 80 42 
			 East of England 218 491 378 290 98 54 
			 Inner London 133 297 166 151 53 32 
			 Outer London 170 410 272 219 72 49 
			 South East 317 738 572 425 141 80 
			 South West 235 414 344 244 76 50 
			 Wales 124 237 171 133 43 22 
			 Scotland 210 463 324 269 80 51 
			 Northern Ireland 54 144 92 90 29 20 
			 UK 2,475 5,304 3,770 3,025 943 560 
		
	
	
		
			 Thousand 
			  January to December 2008 
			  Total hours worked per week by the household 
			  0-24 25-49 50-74 75-99 100-124 125+ 
			 North East 110 215 146 120 38 17 
			 North West 295 599 394 312 92 62 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 246 466 304 252 71 38 
			 East Midlands 199 376 284 241 74 32 
			 West Midlands 227 473 308 256 72 39 
			 East of England 238 479 380 301 95 50 
			 Inner London 144 306 178 143 61 37 
			 Outer London 199 422 274 212 73 53 
			 South East 364 711 553 446 132 94 
			 South West 234 425 314 273 77 49 
			 Wales 130 253 158 135 36 24 
			 Scotland 228 482 310 259 85 47 
			 Northern Ireland 61 140 94 94 25 18 
			 UK 2,674 5,347 3,699 3,043 932 560 
		
	
	
		
			 Thousand 
			  January to December 2009 
			  Total hours worked per week by the household 
			  0-24 25-49 50-74 75-99 100-124 125+ 
			 North East 119 223 137 117 31 18 
			 North West 289 621 381 306 97 44 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 241 468 303 242 68 34 
			 East Midlands 200 386 274 235 65 29 
			 West Midlands 220 477 302 234 75 42 
			 East of England 228 513 369 293 92 51 
			 Inner London 147 302 180 151 46 31 
			 Outer London 190 411 268 214 67 54 
			 South East 342 761 551 413 127 73 
			 South West 234 435 325 250 78 45 
			 Wales 129 244 160 130 36 20 
			 Scotland 232 489 319 258 78 42 
			 Northern Ireland 58 145 103 83 18 17 
			 UK 2,628 5,473 3,672 2,925 878 500 
		
	
	
		
			 Thousand 
			  January to December 2010 
			  Total hours worked per week by the household 
			  0-24 25-49 50-74 75-99 100-124 125+ 
			 North East 122 224 143 118 35 15 
			 North West 309 601 387 325 99 50 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 268 455 298 246 62 37 
			 East Midlands 185 378 270 238 63 36 
			 West Midlands 219 460 305 246 75 41 
			 East of England 238 517 370 283 85 50 
			 Inner London 145 293 177 146 54 31 
			 Outer London 213 411 244 229 69 51 
			 South East 390 730 553 402 136 66 
			 South West 229 450 319 237 70 43 
			 Wales 135 252 165 118 38 20 
			 Scotland 242 488 323 247 72 38 
			 Northern Ireland 68 143 98 86 19 18 
			 UK 2,763 5,403 3,651 2,922 880 496 
		
	
	
		
			 Thousand 
			  January to December 2011 
			  Total hours worked per week by the household 
			  0-24 25-49 50-74 75-99 100-124 125+ 
			 North East 118 205 126 102 29 9 
			 North West 291 577 357 294 69 41 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 231 425 294 216 58 28 
			 East Midlands 186 374 260 202 64 25 
			 West Midlands 214 445 282 214 65 33 
			 East of England 230 502 345 267 76 40 
			 Inner London 140 260 138 107 40 19 
			 Outer London 189 365 217 177 53 27 
			 South East 355 711 493 374 104 56 
			 South West 220 422 285 208 58 27 
			 Wales 121 222 140 110 30 15 
			 Scotland 225 467 284 207 55 29 
			 Northern Ireland 68 147 97 88 21 13 
		
	
	
		
			 UK 2,587 5,121 3,319 2,565 721 365 
			 (1) Households contain at least one person aged 16 to 64 where at least one person is in employment and hours worked are available for all those in employment. (2) Total hours worked per week by the household refers to the total hours worked per week in main and second jobs for everyone in employment in the household. Note: Hours worked is not available for some households. Source: Annual Population Survey household datasets

Employment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) pensioners were working beyond the retirement age and (b) young people were unemployed in each (i) constituency, (ii) region and (iii) constituent part of the UK in each of the last 30 years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) pensioners worked beyond the retirement age and (b) young people were unemployed in (i) each constituency and (ii) each region of the UK in each year for which data is available (148644); and how many (a) pensioners were working beyond the retirement age and (b) young people were unemployed in each (i) constituency, (ii) region and (iii) constituent part of the UK in each of the last 30 years (149075).
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessors, following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
	Estimates of the number of people in employment beyond state pension age are not available for parliamentary constituencies or regions. Table 1 shows the number of people above state pension age in the UK who were in employment according to survey responses from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) in the final quarter of each year from 1992 to 2012. Estimates for periods prior to this are not available. The state pension age is the age at which people become eligible to claim the state pension in the UK. For women the state pension age is currently being increased incrementally to 65 in order to be equalised with that for men in 2018. On the LFS the identification of respondents' eligibility for the state pension is based on their age at the time of interview. During the survey period for October to December 2012 the state pension age for women varied between 61 and 3 months and 61 and 4 months.
	Estimates are also not available for the number of young people who were unemployed for parliamentary constituencies. As an alternative, table 2 shows the number of people aged 18 to 24 who were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and its predecessor unemployment related benefits in January 2013, the latest available period, and December of each year from 1985 to 2012. Data prior to 1985 is not available. Data for the current parliamentary constituencies, used in the 2010 general election, are not available prior to 2004. The counts of people claiming JSA are those who are claiming benefits for unemployment related purposes. At a UK level the total number of JSA claimants is around two thirds of the total unemployment level. As this data is quite extensive a copy has been placed in the House of Commons library.
	Whilst estimates of the number of young people who were unemployed are not available for parliamentary constituencies, they are available for regions and countries. Table 3 shows an estimate for the number of people aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed according to survey responses to the APS in the 12 month period ending October 2012, the latest available period, and for the 12 month periods ending in December for 2004 to 2011. Estimates are also shown for 12 month periods ending in February for 1995 to 2004 from the Annual LFS. Estimates are not available for periods prior to this. Due to the size of the tables, they will be stored in the library of the House.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS, APS and its predecessors are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in the tables based on survey results.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bangladesh

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh.

Alistair Burt: The British Government support the principle of holding to account those who may be guilty of war crimes. But we also believe that it is essential that any trial meets appropriate international standards. We note concerns from international non-governmental organisations and legal professionals and continue to call on the Bangladesh Government, publicly and privately, to ensure that trials meet appropriate international standards. With EU partners, the British Government also continue to make clear our strong opposition to the application of the death penalty in all circumstances.
	The Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Warsi, raised our concerns about the International Crimes Tribunal and our absolute opposition to the death penalty in meetings with both the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Dipu Moni, during her visit to Bangladesh in February.

Bangladesh

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with human rights organisations regarding the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh.

Alistair Burt: Our officials in London and Dhaka regularly meet with human rights organisations to discuss a range of topics including the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh.
	The British Government take human rights very seriously and follow progress closely, raising concerns where there are credible allegations. We welcome the Government’s assurances that they are committed to protecting human rights and recognise the positive progress that has been made across a range of social development indicators.
	The Senior Minister of State, my right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Warsi, raised our concerns about human rights with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, in February.

Bangladesh

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had at the United Nations regarding the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh.

Alistair Burt: We have had no recent discussions at the United Nations regarding the International War Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh.
	The British Government support the principle of war crimes trials to hold to account those who may be guilty of crimes committed during the 1971 war. But we also believe that it is essential that any trial meets appropriate human rights standards. Defendants should be given a fair trial, including the right to conduct a proper defence, and trials should be open and transparent.
	We continue to call on the Bangladesh Government, publicly and privately, to ensure that trials meet appropriate international standards.

Bangladesh

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Bangladeshi Government regarding the International Crimes Tribunal in that country.

Alistair Burt: The Senior Minister of State, my right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Warsi, discussed the International Crimes Tribunal and reiterated our absolute opposition to the death penalty in meetings with both the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Dipu Moni, during her visit to Bangladesh in February.
	The British Government support the principle of war crimes trials to hold to account those who may be guilty of crimes committed during the 1971 war. But we also believe that it is essential that any trial meets appropriate human rights standards. Defendants should be given a fair trial, including the right to conduct a proper defence, and trials should be open and transparent.

Bangladesh

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of allegations that the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh is not impartial.

Alistair Burt: We are aware of media reports regarding the impartiality of the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh. The British Government believe that it is essential that any trial meets appropriate international standards. We note concerns from international non-governmental organisations and legal professionals and continue to call on the Bangladesh Government, publicly and privately, to ensure that trials meet appropriate international standards. With EU partners, the British Government also continue to make clear our strong opposition to the application of the death penalty in all circumstances.
	The Senior Minister of State, my right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Warsi, raised our concerns about the International Crimes Tribunal and our absolute opposition to the death penalty in meetings with both the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Dipu Moni, during her visit to Bangladesh in February.

British Council

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects of the reduction in funding for the British Council; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: Like other publicly funded bodies, the British Council has had to bear its share of cuts. The spending review reduced Foreign and Commonwealth Office Grant in Aid funding to the British Council to £154 million in 2014-15.
	In response, the British Council has set itself ambitious targets to increase its overall turnover from £739 million in 2011-12 to £914 million in 2014-15. It aims to achieve these targets by increasing the share of activity funded through paid-for, contracted or partnered services.
	The Council is concentrating on its core areas of Arts; English; Education and Society, and is delivering more of its work in partnerships and through international education and development contracts, or through cooperation with state or federal Governments.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make all the legislation concerning the British Indian Ocean Territory available for public access online.

Mark Simmonds: The British Indian Ocean Territory Government plan to launch a website later this year and all current legislation will be placed on the website for public access.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to bring forward any further legislative proposals or regulations designating the marine protected area in the British Indian Ocean Territory in 2013.

Mark Simmonds: We hope that legislation to further implement the marine protected area will be enacted soon. This will be subject to the decision of the High Court, which is currently considering a judicial review challenging aspects of the consultation of the British Indian Ocean Territory marine protected area.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the need for further legal underpinning of the marine protected area declared in the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Mark Simmonds: We hope that legislation to further implement the Marine Protected Area will be enacted soon. This will be subject to the decision of the High Court, which is currently considering a judicial review challenging aspects of the consultation of the British Indian Ocean Territory marine protected area.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what regulations have been passed to designate the marine protected area declared around the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Mark Simmonds: The Marine Protected Area was proclaimed on 1 April 2010. Marine protection is enforced by existing legislation. We hope that legislation to further implement the marine protected area will be enacted soon. This will be subject to the decision of the High Court, which is currently considering a judicial review challenging aspects of the consultation of the British Indian Ocean Territory marine protected area.

Burma

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Burmese Government on citizenship for the Rohingya in Burma.

Hugo Swire: I met Burmese Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin on 11 February, together with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and the Minister of State, Department for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr Duncan). During the meeting, the need for a long-term resolution on citizenship for the Rohingya in Burma was raised. Concerns over the security situation, access for aid agencies, emergency accommodation and justice were also raised directly with the Burmese Foreign Minister.
	Our ambassador visited Naypyidaw on 6 and 7 March and raised the situation in Rakhine State with the Defence Minister, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Border Affairs. He asked about the prospects for a long-term political solution, including on citizenship for the Rohingya. He also pressed for urgent action on humanitarian needs as the rainy season approaches.
	British officials in Rangoon regularly visit Rakhine State to discuss the situation with both the Rakhine and Rohingya communities, most recently on 11 and 12 March.

Burundi

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of religious freedom in Burundi.

Mark Simmonds: Religious freedom is generally respected in Burundi. It was not a key issue highlighted at the UN Universal Periodic Review for Burundi in January.
	However, we are concerned by a specific incident on 12 March, where seven worshipers were killed and more than 30 injured in clashes between different religious groups in Businde, Gahombo-Kayanza province.
	We understand that the Burundian Minister for National Security and the Minister of Interior have visited the location to seek a solution to prevent future violence. The Burundian Speaker of Parliament and Members of Parliament from Kayanza constituency also visited on 13 March to convey a message of peace.
	The British high commission Kigali, which also covers Burundi, judges this to be an isolated incident, rather than a countrywide trend. It is however concerning and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Central African Republic

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the security situation in the Central African Republic.

Mark Simmonds: We welcome the January ceasefire negotiated in Libreville, Gabon, which halted the advance of armed anti-government rebels towards Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). We are concerned about recent reports of breaches of the ceasefire, and judge that the situation is still precarious. The international community must remain closely engaged with the Government of National Unity to ensure full implementation of the Peace Agreement. We continue to work closely with France on the UN Security Council's response to the situation in CAR, including on this month's (March) review of the priorities for the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the CAR (BINUCA).

Diplomatic Service

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many countries currently have no British ambassador, high commissioner or consulate.

David Lidington: The United Kingdom does not currently have a Post in, or an ambassador accredited to, Iran or Syria. Our operations have been suspended in both countries for security reasons.
	We have an ambassador or high commissioner accredited to every other UN member state. There are 46 countries where the UK has an accredited, non-resident ambassador or high commissioner stationed elsewhere.

Diplomatic Service

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many overseas missions his Department has (a) opened and (b) closed in each of the last three years.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is strengthening its diplomatic network significantly, deploying more staff to the fastest growing regions, upgrading existing posts and opening new ones. Ten new posts have been opened or upgraded since May 2010, in the following locations:
	
		
			 Date Country Post Change 
			 May 2012 Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Political Office upgraded to Embassy 
			 October 2012 Madagascar Antananarivo British Interests Section upgraded to Embassy 
			 July 2012 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek New Embassy 
			 September 2012 Canada Calgary Trade office upgraded to Consulate General 
			 June 2012 India Hyderabad Trade office upgraded to Deputy High Commission 
			 July 2011 South Sudan Juba New embassy in new sovereign state 
		
	
	
		
			 November 2011 Brazil Recife Trade office upgraded to Consulate General 
			 November 2012 El Salvador San Salvador New Embassy 
			 October 2012 Laos Vientiane New Embassy 
			 January 2013 USA Seattle New UK Government Office 
		
	
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has made a commitment to retain all existing British embassies and high commissions throughout the life of this Parliament, but we have closed a number of consulates, listed below. In Europe we have changed our working methods to provide services to our customers in a more effective and efficient way, for example through the introduction of a Contact Centre in Malaga, which helps reduce consular calls to our posts in southern Europe.
	
		
			 Date Change Post Change 
			 September 2011 France Lille Consulate General closed (now covered from Paris) 
			 June 2012 France Lyon Consulate General closed and reopened as a trade office 
			 December 2011 Italy Florence Consulate closed 
			 September 2011 Italy Venice Consulate General closed 
			 October 2010 Switzerland Geneva Consulate General closed 
			 December 2012 Iraq Basra Consulate General closed 
		
	
	Our operations in Iran and Syria have been suspended in both countries for security reasons.

Indonesia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the UK's relationship with Indonesia; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to my right hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Nicholas Soames) of 24 January 2013, Official Report, column 417W. We continue to work closely with Indonesia in all areas referred to therein, as well as in international fora, including as co-chairs of the UN High Level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Open Government Partnership.

Kyrgyzstan

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to improve bilateral relations with Kyrgyzstan.

David Lidington: The UK has a good bilateral relationship with Kyrgyzstan, which we are committed to developing further. We were pleased to open a British embassy in Bishkek last year, with the UK's first resident ambassador accredited in March 2012. When he visited London in July 2012, the then Kyrgyz Prime Minister met a range of UK Ministers, including the Deputy Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr Clegg). The Minister of State, Department for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr Duncan) and the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces, the hon. Member for North Devon (Sir Nick Harvey), made useful visits to Kyrgyzstan in October 2011 and March 2012 respectively. We are keen to maintain momentum in these senior level contacts. The Department for International Development (DfID) programme in Kyrgyzstan totals some £7 million per annum and is focused on improving governance and security, boosting regional trade and deepening democracy. In addition, the UK Government are contributing nearly £800,000 this year to projects aimed at conflict prevention issues. We and the Kyrgyz Government are keen to deepen cooperation in a range of areas including supporting Kyrgyzstan's reform programme, regional security, trade, parliamentary links and educational issues.

Mozambique

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking with the Mozambique Government to tackle the expropriation of mining licences held by UK mining companies and their subsidiaries in that country.

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs underlined the importance of an open and conducive business environment when he met President Guebuza of Mozambique and Foreign Minister Baloi in London on 9 May 2012. My ministerial colleagues raise, as appropriate, the specific interests of British mining and other companies with the Mozambican Government, and will continue to do so. We also underline the importance of effective avenues for legal redress where disputes occur. Officials in both London and at the British high commission in Maputo are in regular contact with British companies with interests in Mozambique. Any British company which considers that its assets have been unlawfully expropriated has the option to consider pursuing a case in the local courts or under the UK-Mozambique Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

Mozambique

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Mozambique on the expropriation of mining licences held by UK mining companies and their subsidaries.

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs underlined the importance of an open and conducive business environment when he met President Guebuza of Mozambique and Foreign Minister Baloi in London on 9 May 2012. My ministerial colleagues raise, as appropriate, the specific interests of British mining and other companies with the Mozambican Government, and will continue to do so.

Mozambique

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last discussed with his counterpart in Mozambique the expropriation of UK mining licences in that country.

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs underlined the importance of an open and conducive business environment when he met President Guebuza of Mozambique and Foreign Minister Baloi in London on 9 May 2012.

Mozambique

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received a verbal or written commitment from the Mozambique government on its willingness to investigate the expropriation of UK mining licences in that country.

Mark Simmonds: The Mozambique Government have given us no commitment to that effect. However, any UK company which considers that its assets in Mozambique have been unlawfully expropriated has the option to consider pursuing a case in the local courts or under the UK-Mozambique Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

Mozambique

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to discuss the issue of expropriated UK mining licences with the Mozambique government.

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has no meetings currently scheduled with members of the Government of Mozambique. Any British company which considers that its assets in Mozambique have been unlawfully expropriated has the option to consider pursuing a case in the local courts or under the UK-Mozambique Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

Palestinians

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of depictions by the Palestinian Authority on maps of Israel as a Palestinian state and the compliance of that depiction with the Palestinian Authority's Quartet Principle commitment to recognise the state of Israel.

Alistair Burt: Depiction of the other on maps is an issue on both sides of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For example, a recent study of Palestinian and Israeli textbooks found that 58% of maps in Palestinian textbooks and 76% of maps in Israeli textbooks made no reference to the other. There is a profound need for both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to do more to promote a positive portrayal of each other, reflecting the principles of co-existence, tolerance, justice and human dignity and the UK regularly condemns incitement on both sides, registering our concerns. However, the British Government believe that the track record of President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad shows they are genuinely committed to a non-violent pursuit of a two state solution.

Palestinians

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of Palestinian Authority television broadcasting songs asserting Palestinian ownership of the Israeli towns of Jaffa, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth and the compliance of those broadcasts with the Palestinian Authority's Quartet Principle commitment to recognise the state of Israel.

Alistair Burt: There is a profound need for both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to do more to promote a positive portrayal of each other, reflecting the principles of co-existence, tolerance, justice and human dignity. The UK regularly condemns incitement and registers our concerns with both sides.
	Palestine TV is not an official station of the Palestinian Authority (PA), but it is subject to official directives that make clear that it must avoid any program content that endorses or propagates violence.
	We do not believe that the reports in question bring into question the PA's commitment to a two state solution and its often repeated recognition of the State of Israel.

Public Expenditure

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what funding his Department allocated to the (a) Conflict Pool, (b) Discretionary Peacekeeping Fund, (c) BBC World Service, excluding the BBC World Service Trust, (d) BBC World Service Trust, (e) Special Reserve, (f) British Council and (g) Security and Intelligence Fund in each year since 2010.

David Lidington: The information is as follows:
	(a) and (b): Funding for the Peacekeeping Budget and the Conflict Pool is provided for separately by the Treasury and does not come from departmental expenditure limits (DEL). The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has not contributed to these funds from its own departmental budget since 2009-10. FCO spend through the Conflict Pool is listed in the departmental resource accounts, available on the FCO website and in the Library of the House.
	(c) The following table shows the final FCO allocations (programme and capital) to the BBC World Service from 20010-11 to 2012-13 as published in the spring supplementary estimates and departmental resource accounts for each year. Actual spend each year may differ from these figures and is available in the departmental resource accounts available on the FCO website and in the Library of the House.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2010-11 262.5 
			 2011-12 253.0 
			 2012-13 242.0 
		
	
	The figure above for 2012-13 is the grant in aid funding provided to the BBC World Service. As such, it does not include items such as depreciation or annually managed expenditure (AME).
	(d) The BBC World Service Trust is an independent charity funded by external grants and voluntary contributions. The FCO makes no specific allocation to it each year but may fund individual projects on an ad hoc basis.
	(e) The FCO makes no allocations to the “Special Reserve” which is part of the Treasury Reserve.
	(f) The following table shows the final FCO allocations (Programme and Capital) to the British Council from 20010-11 to 2012-13 as published in the spring supplementary estimates and departmental resource accounts for each year. Actual spend each year may differ from these figures and is available in the departmental resource accounts, available on the FCO website and in the Library of the House.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2010-11 188.0 
			 2011-12 180.5 
			 2012-13 171.5 
		
	
	(g) The FCO makes no allocation to the Single Intelligence Account.

Somalia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the United Nations Security Council about the lifting of the arms embargo on Somalia and the effect on security in Somalia of such a decision.

Mark Simmonds: The UK has been at the forefront of international efforts to support peace and security in Somalia, including through leading negotiations on Somalia in the UN Security Council (UNSC). UNSC Resolution 2093 authorised a time-limited, 12 month, partial suspension of the arms embargo for the Federal Government of Somalia to acquire equipment, advice and assistance for the development of their security forces. As a member of the Security Council, the UK supported this resolution. We support the right of sovereign countries to defend themselves and build their security forces. This is urgently needed in Somalia. However, it is essential that Somalia's security is not jeopardised. To ensure this, several safeguards have been put in place, including the continuation of robust restrictions on heavy weaponry as well as notification requirements and monitoring mechanisms. We will follow the situation closely and the UNSC will review the situation over the coming year.

South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the consultation response received by the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands in its consultation conducted between October and November 2012 on marine protected areas.

Mark Simmonds: The assessment of consultation responses to the consultation conducted by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) was a matter for GSGSSI. GSGSSI wrote to all those who had responded to the consultation process in January 2013 and the British Government received a copy of that letter. We are satisfied that GSGSSI considered all of the responses it received, and took account of the best available scientific advice, in coming to its decision about additional protection measures within its existing Marine Protected Area, that it announced in January 2013.

South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many consultation responses were received by the government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in its consultation conducted between October and November 2012 on marine protected areas.

Mark Simmonds: The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands received 17 detailed responses, and 29 responses via a web-based campaign, in relation to the Marine Protected Areas consultation that was conducted between October and November last year.

South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the transparency mechanisms in place for consultations issued by the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.

Mark Simmonds: The British Government are satisfied that the consultation processes adopted by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are transparent. In October last year, the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) posted a consultation document on its public website about potential additional protection measures within its Marine Protected Area. GSGSSI also directly notified organisations and individuals who had previously registered an interest in the Territory's Marine Protected Area. GSGSSI subsequently wrote to all those responding to the consultation process, prior to its announcement of additional protection measures within its existing Marine Protected Area, in January 2013.

Syria

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British nationals have requested consular assistance in Syria in the last 12 months.

Alistair Burt: We do not have statistics to show the number of requests for consular assistance from British nationals in Syria since the British embassy in Damascus suspended services in March 2012. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London has received 29 requests for advice and assistance relating to Syria in the last 12 months, along with a number of informal enquiries by phone or e-mail.